The greater portion of these records consists of journals, cash books and ledgers recording purchases and sales, 1822-1898. Also included are formula and prescription books, catalogues, price lists, company releases, 1948 and 1952, and a genealogy of the Lyman Family in Canada.

The collection consists of fifteen volumes, primarily manuscript with some printed, containing over 1,300 culinary and medical handwritten recipes, plus numerous loose recipes also mainly manuscript. The documents in the collection originated chiefly from the Doncaster area of South Yorkshire, centred on Hooten Pagnell Hall. Many of the manuscripts and notes are signed by or addressed to Sarah Anne Warde. Series 1 comprises the fifteen bound volumes, two of which are printed works by female authors, while the remaining thirteen are manuscript notebooks. Two of these manuscript notebooks are attributed to Sarah Anne Warde, while one is attributed to Eliza Smithson. The manuscript attributed to Eliza Smithson contains table setting riddles (also known as an enigmatical bill of fare). Loose recipes are found in Series 2. This series consists of approximately 300 culinary, medical, and household recipes dating from roughly the 1780s through the 1850s.

The fonds illustrates Charles Lewis's work in pharmacy and includes a collection of his father's records, also named Charles Lewis. It contains books, drug formulae books, manuscripts, diplomas, licenses, certificates, patent documents, catalogues, testimonials, notes, correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, business documents, and obituaries.