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Charles Rowcroft
d. 1856
Best known for vivid early novels about colonial Australia, this 19th-century writer drew on his own years in Van Diemen's Land to create stories full of migration, frontier life, and adventure. His work is often remembered as an early example of Australian emigrant fiction.
1 Audiobook
Vandiemenin maa
by Theodor Dielitz, Charles Rowcroft
About the author
Born in London in 1798, Charles Rowcroft spent several years in Van Diemen's Land before returning to England. That experience shaped much of his fiction, especially his writing about settlers, bushrangers, and colonial life in Australia.
He published Tales of the Colonies in 1843, a book often described as the first Australian novel of the immigrant genre. He followed it with The Bushranger of Van Diemen's Land in 1846 and later wrote An Emigrant in Search of a Colony. He also served for a time as editor of Hood's Magazine and Comic Miscellany.
Later in life, Rowcroft was appointed the first British consul to Cincinnati. He died at sea on August 23, 1856, while returning to England from New York.