[1][2] It was the most successful of several popular magazines published by the Religious Tract Society, which produced Christian literature for a wide audience.

[1] The magazine's title referred to campaigns that had decreased work hours, giving workers extra leisure time.

[6] The layout typically included approximately six long articles, formatted in two columns per page, and five or six illustrations.

[4] Despite this, The Leisure Hour carried far fewer statements of Christian doctrine than the Society's other publications,[6] and had a greater emphasis on fiction than popular magazines of the time.

[7] Two days before the magazine's launch in 1852, a warehouse fire destroyed the first batch of The Leisure Hour, so replacement copies had to be printed.