George Mercer Dawson's papers comprise professional, scientific and family correspondence, some scientific manuscripts, drawings and photographs of Western exploration, juvenalia, student materials, and poetry. His scientific correspondence (boxes 54-55) commences in 1872, but drops off sharply after the early 1880s. The letters, and his occasional draft replies, document the political and administrative fortunes of the Geological Survey, the North American Boundary Commission, and various learned societies. As well, they report on field research, particularly on mineral deposits, arrangements for equipment and assistants for expeditions, and the exchange of specimens. The correspondents include other members of the Survey, government officials, and business concerns, especially railways and mines. Dawson's scientific manuscripts fall into two groups: notes and reports on Western exploration, geology, mining, and Indigenous communities, 1870-1875, and 5 cm of general lectures on physical geography delivered to the Montreal Ladies' Educational Association, 1880. Closely allied to his scientific and exploratory work are an album of photographs taken in western Canada in 1894-95 (box 70), and about 10 cm of pencil sketches, sepias and watercolors of landscapes, many produced during exploratory trips in 1873-1874, and 1881 (box 59). Materials of a more personal nature include juvenalia (short essays, drawings, and two diaries from 1861 and 1865) and 16 lecture and laboratory notebooks from his student years at the Royal School of Mines, 1869-1872, together with pocket diaries, memorandum books, and notes of geological field trips during the same period (boxes 57-59). Dawson also wrote poetry, of which 10 cm of manuscript is extant (box 56), mostly reflections on states of mind, the Canadian landscape and seasons, and the vanity of human society, endeavour and love. There is also a small notebook of poems and reflections during an European trip in 1882 (box 58). Family correspondence includes 22 letters from his grandfather James Dawson, 1856-1857; 5 cm of letters from J.W. Dawson, 1856-1899; 15 cm from Margaret Mercer Dawson, 1865-1901; 3 cm from Anna Dawson Harrington, 1869-1901; 3 cm from William Bell Dawson, 1865-1899; 2 cm from Rankine Dawson, 1870-1900; and a handful of items from other members of the family.

Other papers primarily concern Dawson's geological interests, and consist of a diaries and general notebooks, 1873-1899; miscellaneous articles on geological subjects, 1887-1894; papers connected with explorations in the Yukon and with the Boundary Question between Alaska and British Territory and with sealing regulations in the Bering Sea, 1887-1897; correspondence, 1883-1898; and poems.

This series consists of business and personal documents created through James Morrison's activities as a trader and merchant, including the management of land that he owned and the running of his household. Other documents created before or after Morrison's life relate to the personal lives of Morrison and his family members or to the sale of land. The documents date from between 18 September 1651 and 25 November 1902, and were created primarily in Montreal, as well as in other locations in Quebec, Ontario, and England.

This series was created and arranged by archivists, with items grouped together into four files based on activity: the purchase and management of land (File 01 - Land ownership documents), personal and business transactions (File 02 - Financial and business documents), participation in political and military spheres (File 03 - Political and military documents), and the accumulation of documentation about Morrison and his family members (File 04 - Biographical material). These documents are primarily legal and financial in nature and include contracts, deeds of ownership, power of attorney, birth and marriage certificates, bills of sale, invoices, accounts. Several of the financial documents in this series include evidence of the trafficking of enslaved Black people, including people who were enslaved by Morrison. Also includes documents containing accounts of political and military events, notes about the genealogy of the family created by Morrison's descendants, and some correspondence concerning land ownership, military concerns, and the division of family estates.

The series consists of administrative documents such as notes and proposals on membership, correspondence, invoices, programs of the Society (1896-1897), pages from the Microscopical Journal (1890), newspaper clippings on varying topics and a notebook of the Field Day Committee (1887).

This series also contains a published copy of R. Lachlan’s A Retrospective Glance at the Progressive State of the Natural History Society of Montreal (see Essays and Lectures Series). In addition, the series contains a few materials produced by the Natural History Society after 1902 such as invitation cards to meetings.

Series consists of items originally attached to scrapbook page, including a number of newspaper clippings related to the Boer War and the election campaign of 1906 between Laurier and Borden.

The papers of Margaret Mercer Dawson consist of 6 cm of letters from her husband, 1848-1873; 14 cm from her children, 1858-1906, including a majority of letters from Anna Harrington; 13 cm from her Scottish relatives and friends, 1836-1907, including Peter Bell, Isabella Hall, Marion Mercer, and Walter Mercer ; and 35 cm (approximately one-third undated) from friends, 1855-1906, including J. Sybil Wilson. All of the letters are incoming correspondence to Margaret Mercer Dawson.

This series contains financial and legal documents created by or on behalf of members of the Hall family between approximately 1719 and 1912. The documents in the series were predominately created in Montreal, Hinchinbrooke, and Quebec City, with some documents created in New England. Documents include accounts, receipts and invoices, loans, power of attorney, land surveys, wills, inventories of estates, a marriage contract, and other documents.

Series contains UCM publications for their annual conventions from 1901-1919. These publications were programmes of their annual conventions and included articles discussing the activities and achievements of the year. The series is arranged chronologically and includes duplicates.

The series consists of printed materials and newsclippings from the Globe and The Gazette, between 1881 and 1889; short professional biography of Rankine Dawson; City of Winnipeg tax receipt for 1884; correspondence from George Mercer Dawson, 1869, 1876; E. Stacey, 1877; Percy H. Selwyn, 1880; John William Dawson, between 1881 and 1899; George Mercer Dawson, between 1881 and 1884, 1890, 1892, 1898, 1899; Margaret Mercer Dawson, 1881, 1882, 1885, 1886, 1890, 1893, 1894, 1898; Eva Dawson, 1882, 1883, 1888, 1896; Hugh A.J. Macdougall, 1882; Anna Dawson Harrington, between 1884 and 1886, 1888, 1894, 1898, 1899; Chas. Gibb, 1884; D. Muller, 1884; Edith Harrington, 1888; Clare Harrington, 1888; Ms. Cheadle, 1901; Sybil Wilson, 1901; Argyll, 1901; William C. Macdonald, 1901; Sam Finley, 1901; W. Peterson, 1901; Adelaide Campbell, 1901; J.S. Archibald, 1901; Henry Coates, 1901; and W. Gardner, 1901.

Series consists of 5 drug formularies estimated to contain approximately 1200-1300 formulas. Notebooks also contain financial data (half-yearly summaries) for approximately 12 years dated between 1896 and 1914, of great significance for quantifying the size of the business and its inventory value (see also File no. 19 for additional financial data).

Anna Dawson Harrington's papers consist chiefly of incoming correspondence, including: 1.5 cm of letters from J. W. Dawson, 1868-1896; 3 cm from Margaret Mercer Dawson, 1870-1902; 10 cm from George Mercer Dawson, 1865-1901; 7 items from William Bell Dawson, 1868-1876; 5 items from Rankine Dawson, 1871-1899; 15 items from Eva Dawson Atkin, 1880-1896; 13 cm from her husband B. J. Harrington, 1876-1906; 2 cm from her children, 1892-1913; 1 cm of congratulatory letters at the time of her marriage, 1875-1876; 13 letters from friends and associates, 1867-1911; 4 cm of letters of sympathy on the death of her husband, 1907; 2 cm of letters concerning subscriptions for his portrait, a girlhood diary, 1866-1871 and some notes for biographies of J. W. Dawson and George Mercer Dawson. Earlier years contain substantial correspondence from her brother George during his education in London and early travels with the International Border Survey and then the Geological Survey of Canada. Substantial family correspondence with her children during their youth and her husband Bernard relates to domestic matters, such as the household, new house, the children's health and activities, with frequent passing mention of finances.