The fonds contains professional and private correspondence from Emma Albani, the first Canadian-born singer of international fame, to Parisian publisher Henri Heugel.

Collection consists of 38 letters written primarily by John Wood Senior to family members in England. Many of these were written to a sister or sister-in-law and a few are addressed to his brother, Will Wood, a watchmaker and jeweller in London, including two in which Wood includes a list of trade supplies to order. Four letters are from John Wood's son, Peter Wentworth Wood. One letter is by John's wife, Anna. Contents include topics such as the country's economy, Canadian-British politics, the Woods' watchmaking and jewellery business, crops, slavery, and the American Civil War, as well as local Montreal news on subjects such as fires, the Victoria Bridge, a cholera outbreak, the 1856 Railroad Celebration, and a visit by the Prince of Wales. Letters also include family news, particularly of John Wood's children Peter, John, and Charles, seafaring disasters, gold mines, improvements in shipping in the St. Lawrence seaway and the Atlantic Ocean, the expansion of railroads, and the Atlantic Telegraph. Letters date between 25 November 1839 and 13 December 1867. One is a crossed letter.

Fonds consists of six autograph signed letters written at Montreal by Ann Adams, dated between 24 March 1834 to 26 December 1937, to her son Edward H. in Providence, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia. Letters contain local news (churches and organs built, the railroad to St. Johns, fires, printing and publishing, cholera, etc.), observations on the worsening tensions between Papineau and the "Canadiens" and the "Loyalists," and accounts of preaching by an Indigenous convert to Christianity.

The fonds reflects the scientific and literary outreach activities of the Montreal Natural History Society over the course of its existence and contains correspondence, minutes, financial records, council and committee reports, membership lists, donation lists, catalogues of holdings, newspaper clippings, lecture advertisements and weather maps. In addition, the fonds includes reference material to other societies and information regarding the publication and creation of the Canadian Naturalist and Quarterly Journal of Science, Canadian Naturalist and Geologist and the Canadian Record of Science.

The fonds is composed of the following series: 1) Accounting Records (1860-1917); 2) Administrative Records (1833-1887); 3) Catalogues (ca.1829-ca.1925); 4) Correspondence (1871-1896 with gaps); 5) Essays and Lectures (1829-1852); 6) Minutes (1827-1832,1844-1923); 7) Montreal Microscopical Society (1884-1906); 8) Reports (1828-1881 with gaps); 9) Weather Maps (1895-1897).

Letters and papers relating to employment with the Hudson’s Bay Company. These include letters of appointment, official announcements, lists of officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and an inventory the posts and officers in the Albany River district.

Fonds consists of letters written to P.M. Roget by various people, 1830-1856.

This series consists of 14 scrapbook volumes and files of material collected by Wood that were of interest to him either professionally or personally, dated between 1887-1955, but predominately 1926-1941. The scrapbooks and files contain newspaper and periodical clippings, correspondence, printed ephemera, photographs, postcards, palm leaf manuscripts, prints, paintings and other artwork, manuscripts, bookplates, place cards, and textile badges. There are also a few items within the volumes relating to Wood’s research trips and minor writings.
Overall topics within the series include ornithology, Wood’s parrot John III, zoology, naturalists, current events (1927-1941), poems, politics and war, British culture and people, health, obituaries, education, tourism, science and medical research, McGill Library and other institution collections, bird sanctuaries, and bird, ancient, and medieval artwork.
Printed ephemera from Wood’s travels include invitations, programs, brochures, tickets, visitation membership cards, business cards, etc.. There are two volumes (1925-1932) with Saturday Evening Post articles written by Hal G. Evarts, Stewart E. White, David Newell, Bozeman Bulger, Lord William Percy, Donald R. Dickey, and others.
There are 63 incoming and outgoing correspondence, including letters, notes, cards and telegrams. Individuals addressed include Dr. Axel Munthe, Irving Thalberg, Major Allan Brooks, Edith Swan, William Beebe, Chester W. Davis, F. L. Struthers, Elizabeth E. Abbott, W. H. Poole, Thos. Cook and Son Ltd., Margaret E. Hibbard, National Audubon Society, Senator William E. Borah, Stuart Baker, T. S. Palmer, Samuel Casey Wood III, Alan Wood, E. E. Chambers, McGill University, C. F. Martin, George Perley, Emma Shearer Wood, and Wheldon and Wesley. Some topics discussed within correspondence include bird protection, ornithology, travel, holidays, politics, and a speaking event during World War One.
Other individuals represented in this series include Archibald Thorburn, Robert Ridgway, Joseph Addison, M. K. Wisehart, Charles D. Stewart, Dr. George Harlet, Charles Livingston Bull, Dr. Harding, W. J. Belcher, Doris Rosenthal, Marquess of Tavistock, Francis Moore, Karel Fabritius, John Burroughs, T. C. Harrison, R. L. Gallienne, W. H. Bartlett, Harvey Cushing, John H. Sage, Alexander Wetmore, Dr. Andreas Nell, and John G. Howard.
Some locations either visited by Wood or represented in the series include England, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, India, Sri Lanka, Italy, British Guiana, British Museum of Natural History, Notre Dame Cathedral, Victoria Albert Museum, and Bodleian Library.

A collection of documents from the life of Simon McTavish including a letter to his creditors and a series of legal opinions on the estate of Simon and William McGillivray. Documents' informational value is largely financial in nature.

Frobisher's papers comprise a letterbook of the North-West Co. containing copies of letters written by Frobisher from April 1787 to October 1788, two original letters to Simon McTavish, 1796, and one from him, 1787, business and legal documents, largely concerning the estate of James McGill, 1810-1834, and a diary, 1806-1810, mostly a record of where he dined.