The Christian Observer was an Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

 evangelical

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

 periodical, appearing from 1802 to 1874.

The Christian Observer was founded by William Hey

William Hey (surgeon)

William Hey was an English surgeon, born in Pudsey, West Yorkshire. He was a surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary from its opening in a temporary building in 1776, and senior surgeon from 1773 to 1812....

 "in response to the dissenters' Leeds Mercury

Leeds Mercury

The Leeds Mercury was a newspaper in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was published from 1718 to 1755 and again from 1767. Initially it consisted of 12 pages and cost three halfpennies. In 1794 it had a circulation of about 3,000 copies, and in 1797 the cost rose to sixpence because of increased...

." It was published by the bookseller John Hatchard. Various members of the Clapham Sect

Clapham Sect

The Clapham Sect or Clapham Saints were a group of influential like-minded Church of England social reformers based in Clapham, London at the beginning of the 19th century...

 were associated with the paper from the outset. Josiah Pratt

Josiah Pratt

Josiah Pratt was an English evangelical clergyman, involved in publications and the administration of missionary work.-Life:The second son of Josiah Pratt, a Birmingham manufacturer, he was born in Birmingham on 21 December 1768. With his two younger brothers, Isaac and Henry, Josiah was educated...

, who had called for such an evangelical periodical in a 1799 meeting of the Eclectic Society

Eclectic Society (Christian)

The Eclectic Society was founded in 1783 by a number of Anglican clergymen and laymen as a discussion group, and was instrumental in the founding of the Church Missionary Society in 1799.-Origins:...

, served as editor for the first number in January 1802. Pratt was succeeded after six weeks by Zachary Macaulay

Zachary Macaulay

Zachary Macaulay was a slavery abolitionist and campaigner.-Early life:Macaulay was born in Inveraray, Scotland, the son of the Rev. John Macaulay Zachary Macaulay (2 May 1768 – 13 May 1838) was a slavery abolitionist and campaigner.-Early life:Macaulay was born in Inveraray, Scotland, the son of...

, who edited the periodical until 1816.

Later editors were Samuel Charles Wilks (from 1816 to 1849), William Goode

William Goode (dean)

William Goode D.D., the younger was an English churchman, a leader of the evangelicals of the Church of England, and from 1860 Dean of Ripon.-Life:...

 (from 1847 to 1849), John William Cunningham (from 1850 to 1858), and John Buxton Marsden (from 1859 to 1869).

Contributors included Thomas Babington

Thomas Babington

Thomas Babington was an English philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, alongside more famous abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and Hannah More...

, the clergyman and theological writer Charles Smith Bird (1795–1862), the lay theological writer John Bowdler

John Bowdler the Younger

John Bowdler the Younger , was an English author and solicitor.-Early life:Bowdler was the younger son of John Bowdler the elder. He was born in London on 2 February 1783. He was educated at Winchester, and in 1798 was placed in a London solicitor's office...

 (1783–1815), the writer on prophecy William Cuninghame (c. 1775-1849), the clergyman William Dealtry

William Dealtry

William Dealtry was an English clergyman of evangelical views, who became archdeacon of Surrey and a Fellow of the Royal Society.-Life:...

 (1775–1847), the clergyman and biblical scholar George Smith Drew (1819–1880), John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth

John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth

John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth was a British politician who served as Governor-General of India from 1793 to 1797.He married Charlotte Cornish, daughter of James Cornish of Teignmouth, on 14 February 1786...

, Henry Thornton, Henry Tuke

Henry Tuke

Henry Tuke co-operated with his father in the reforms at the Retreat asylum in York, England.He was the author of several moral and theological treatises which have been translated into German and French.-Historic ship:...

, John Venn (1759–1813), and Daniel Wilson.