The records begin shortly before 1788, the year that the first British settlement was established in Australia (at Port Jackson).
It contains despatches of the Governors, who were in charge of the Crown colonies in Australia, to and from the authorities in England.
Those despatches include detailed reports on many subjects, of both major and minor importance.
Some of the things to be found in this series are arrivals of ships, convict records, correspondence, promotions, petitions, rations, embarkation, and appointments.
Watson resigned in 1925, after which no further volumes were published until 1999, when publication was resumed under the editorship of Peter Chapman.