Fonds consists of primarily financial and legal records related to property transfers and the estates of members of the Dawes and Leishman families. It includes land sale deeds, court documents, invoices, receipts, and wills. Business and legal affairs of James P. Dawes, his wife Elizabeth Leishman, and their son Albert F. Dawes are represented in the fonds. Business deals associated with James P. Dawes include with Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada. Many legal documents in the fonds are related to land holdings and property in Lachine, Quebec.

These McGill papers are entirely concerned with his property and estate. They comprise legal documents and copies of letters (some in McGill's hand) concerning his land holdings on St. Paul St., Montréal, in Stanbridge, and in Detroit. McGill's cash book, 1809-1815, and copy by W.D. Lighthall of a deed of conveyance to McGill of some land formerly occupied by the city fortifications, 1805, are also included, as is a blue-print and sketch by W.D. Lighthall of the site of McGill's St. Paul St. house. Estate papers comprise a probate of McGill's will, copied by Alice Lighthall, and his executor's cash book.

This file contains a booklet containing the statutes of McGill University and Royal Victoria College.

The administrative records constitute the bulk of the collection; they include annual reports, and financial statements of John Millen & Co. and related firms, 1962-1972; quarter-monthly reports, 1956-1969; memoranda, 1961-1969; files concerning clients, products, sales, and inventory, 1960-1969; executive meetings, 1960; staff lists, 1955-1970; budgets, 1965; files on Exide & Oil Co. Sales, 1964-1968; file on Modern Sales Ltd., 1943-1970 and business correspondence, 1943-1972. Legal records consist of leases, 1963-1964; employee contract between S.B. Millen and John Millen & Son Ltd., 1968; correspondence, memoranda, and court cases, ca 1930-1936. Also included are reports and typescripts on the principles of management and sales, 1948, 1960-1969, as well as some newspaper clippings.

About half of Donald's papers consist of diaries giving brief daily records of his professional and sometimes personal activities from 1918 to 1981. The remaining files fall into two series. Essays and addresses, 1919-1962, largely on economic aspects of the chemical industry, were addressed to professional organizations and commercial bodies such as the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Canadian Chemical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the Industrial Development Board of Manitoba. More informal speeches include a radio talk on jobs in the chemical industry, 1938. Personal materials comprise some family, legal and investment records, 1940-1952, and undergraduate essay on medieval universities, 1910, correspondence related to an annuity fund set up by Donald for Jessie Henderson, secretary and librarian of McGill's Chemistry Department (1946-1961), and a file of press releases and congratulatory letters on Donald's receipt of the Chemical Industry Medal, 1952-1953.

The project files which occupy most of the archives of J.T. Donald and Co. fall into two series: ordinary business and special assignments. Both series contain the firms report's, and correspondence. Special assignments were largely connected with wartime armaments production. A few files concern work for the Imperial Munitions Board in World War I, but most consist of reports for the Chemical and Explosives Branch of the Department of Munitions and Supply, 1939-1948. Ordinary projects involve consultation for food, pulp and paper, petroleum, and chemical manufacturies, as well as for some government departments, 1888-1940. Outgoing correspondence from 1881 to 1909 is contained in letterbooks. A file of legal documents, 1924-1946, refer to claims against the company, agreements, and partnerships. Also included are an undated notebook on chemical analysis, and scrapbooks and files of newsclippings of professional interest (e.g. reports of explosions caused by oil and gas) covering the period 1916-1958. There are also reports on mining and energy sources prepared by Donald alone and also in partnership with J.H. Ross for various private and government bodies.

This file contains a booklet containing the statutes of McGill University and Royal Victoria College.

Correspondence 1921-1931 concerning Simon McTavish; official copies of legal documents including estate inventories, lawsuits over the McTavish estate, and Simon McTavish’s will; notes for Baylis’ study of McTavish; numerous petitions and newspaper clippings on the state of the McTavish monument and tomb (Peel St., Montreal), and a typescript of his text concerning Simon McTavish. Also two letters from Ignatius Donnelly, 1899, and a letter 1895, from J. Middleton to John Doyle about 19th century gardening in Montreal and the funeral of Judge James Reid.

This file contains a bound volume containing copies and excerpts of texts related to the founding of McGill and other related colleges and institutions. Includes excerpts from James McGill's will, the University Charter, the charters establishing Royal Victoria College and Macdonald College, and other documents.

This file contains a legislative provision, regulations, and by-laws of the McGill Normal School as of January 1886.