ABSTRACT
The Urania Cottage was an ideal project for Charles Dickens, who was an imaginative and compassionate, if a bit controlling, reformer. Dicken's had almost entirely his own way with the design and management of the enterprise. Dickens began to broaden his understanding of the colony, studying published reports and talking with prominent people who had visited the land. Dickens is quite sure that it is 'impossible' that their lives can get 'better', and it is 'certain' they will only get worse. On 26 February 1850 Dickens called upon Caroline Chisholm in London, having read and admired her work, including not only her pamphlets but also the many emigrant letters had been publishing. The first issue of Household Words: A Weekly Journal 'Conducted' by Charles Dickens included an article entitled 'A Bundle of Emigrants' Letters', featuring both an essay co-written by Dickens and Chisholm and excerpts from several Australian settler letters.
