Papers consist of personal correspondence, including substantial family correspondence, diaries, journals, engagement books, ledgers, menus, manuscript poems, galley proofs, lecture notes, scrapbooks, and photographs. It includes correspondence, 1874-1935; a diary of Drummond's trip to Great Britain, 1902; dinner menus, 1902-1903; engagement books, 1902-1906; galley proofs, 1905-1911; Journal of Impressions kept at Savanna la Mar, Jamaica, Windsor and Montreal, 1903-1911; lecture notes taken at McGill, 1878-1882; ledgers containing financial entries and patients' accounts during Drummond's practice in Knowlton and Montreal, 1885-1889; notebooks containing manuscripts poems, drafts and clippings, 1894-1909; scrapbooks related to literary topics, including clippings about Drummond's public readings, and book reviews, 1854-1907 and scrapbooks related to Drummond's dogs, 1890-1907. There are also some papers of Mrs. W.H. Drummond, including a typescript of her Life of W.H. Drummond; and diaries recording her trips to United States and Canada, 1892, 1903.

Fonds consists of notebook kept by Tetley chiefly during the Second World War, while on active duty with the Canadian Royal Navy. The first entry is dated August 14, 1945, and begins with Tetley reporting for duty. The diary records daily activities onboard. From February 21, 1946, entries describe daily life in Montreal and at McGill, with detailed impressions of friends and acquaintances, often with full names and addresses. The final full daily entry is dated February 28, 1946. Following that, entries record major events, such as moving to Quebec in summer of 1949 or convocation, with acquaintances made and Tetley's descriptions and impressions of them, often with names and contact information. Other events noted include Provincial Congress at Quebec, September 1950; "Soirée à la Marine," February 10, 1950; summer in the navy in England, 1951; Boy Scout Campaign, February 1952. Final entries are undated, but the journal appears to end in 1952. The fonds also includes some items previously laid in to the diary, including one black and white photograph of a coastline (laid in before entry dated Sept. 18, 1945), 2 loose leaves with lists of names and some addresses and a postcard, and 2 doctor's notes certifying Tetley's vaccination laid in between pages 92 and 93. Other items laid or tipped in include: invitation to McGill Founders Day Convocation 1950, with notes, and pages from address books.