The Dawson-Harrington Families Fonds follows the family of Sir John William Dawson, geologist and Principal of McGill University from 1855-1893, through four generations, including both personal and scientific papers of John William Dawson, his son-in law, B. J. Harrington, and his son, explorer, geologist, and Director of the Geological Survey George Mercer Dawson. Other family members include James Dawson, father to Sir John William Dawson, a Scots immigrant to Nova Scotia, printer, stationer, unsuccessful investor and zealous Presbyterian; John William's wife Margaret Mercer; their children William Bell Dawson, an engineer, Rankine Dawson, a physician, and Anna Lois Dawson. Also represented are Anna Dawson Harrington and B. J. Harrington's children, Eva Dawson and her husband, Hope Atkin, and their families