The fonds consist of a variety of textual materials created by Andrew Pyper such as published and unpublished materials, early creative writing works, story-outlines, drafts, agendas and diaries. The fonds also contains personal correspondence between Pyper and his publishers, editors, friends and fans. The collection includes working scripts for television and film adaptations of his novels. The photographic material mainly consist of Pyper’s early childhood in Stratford, time at McGill University, travels to the Yukon and Brazil, and living in Toronto.

The fonds contains chiefly the writings of Jeremy Walker on a variety of issues in moral philosophy and related literary topics. These writings, including anthologies, drafts of books and lecture notes, demonstrate the range of his eclectic interests from his formal studies of Kierkegaard and moral philosophy to his more personal intellectual pursuits concerning the literature of Kipling, Jane Austen, and Dostoyevsky, as well as the poetry of Woodsworth and reflections on Englishness. There are also examples of his published and unpublished poetry.

His more personal writings are in diaries that cover more than 20 years of his adult life and in contrast to his erudite writings on grand philosophical topics reflect his feelings and at times his dreams, on the state of his health, relationships with women, and recount the day-to-day events of urban travel and socializing.

His personal and family relationships are reflected by correspondence with family, friends and students, photo albums of travels to England and Greece, travel diaries document his summer activities from 1947 -1950, including lists of books read, drawings and photographs. As well, in a file titled Personalia (3) Apologiai Walker provides some personal chronologies, and reflects upon his writings and his life.

The fonds documents Sharon Thesen’s personal and professional life as a poet, editor, and professor from 1961 to 1989. All records in the fonds were collected by Thesen herself, and are primarily composed of correspondence, journals, and creative work. Most of the creative work is composed of drafts and edited versions of Thesen’s own poetry, essays, and articles, but also includes work sent to her for review. While most of the records are textual, there are a small number of pictures and postcards that were sent to and taken by Thesen, and are mostly of a personal nature. Notably, a large section of the fonds is made up of letters that include correspondence between other published and acclaimed authors such as Michael Ondaatje, Christopher Dewdney, Lola Lemire Tostevin, Ken Norris, Judith Fitzgerald, Phyllis Webb, Gerald Burns, and others. Lastly, the fonds also includes Thesen’s journals from the mid-60s to the mid-80s which contain her daily activities, her personal thoughts, as well as some of her creative work.
The fonds is arranged into three different series, Chronological Files, Journals, and Personal & Professional Records, as per the internal organization of the records. The main forms of these records are textual records, but also include graphic/photographic materials and mixed media. The records are arranged chronologically and intellectually within the series.

Andreassen's papers fall into three series: personal materials, diaries, and professional files. Personal materials include family correspondence, 1929-ca 1932, and ca 30 cm of class notes and draft papers stemming from his student years, largely at Louisiana State. There are also files of private correspondence, some addressed to Mrs Andreassen, from the period 1975-1980. Andreassen's diaries cover the years 1936-1940, 1945-1952, 1962-1965, and 1968-1976. They record the working day and are interleaved with memoranda and correspondence, often of a personal nature. Professional files vary in nature with each stage of Andreassen's career, but correspondence and reports are consistent elements. To these may be added copies of surveys and inventories of the Louisiana Historical Records Survey, expense accounts and photographs arising from his work for UNRRA, records of archival deposits and drafts on an institutional history prepared as Archivist of CNR, and annual reports written as McGill Archivist.

The records of the Montreal-Ottawa Conference of the United Church are arranged in the following series:

1. Denominational records prior to Union, 1824-1925
   Records of each of the three parent denominations follow the same general pattern. There are minutes, usually printed, of the national executive body, and original minutes of the local unit corresponding to the geographical boundaries of the present Conference. Papers of associations at this level generally include the files of Sabbath School associations, ministerial associations, missionary societies, and theological colleges. A number of interdenominational clergy and mission groups are also represented; while a special series of correspondence, minutes, and conference reports covers the debates concerning union, 1906-1925. The Methodist materials begin in 1824, and the Presbyterian in 1841, and the Congregational in 1842.

2. Conference records, 1925-
   Minutes of the Conference, and of the Conference-based Women's Missionary Society, Women's Union and United Church Women, are extant from the time of Union. The Montreal Presbytery maintains a record of proceedings, and supports a number of groups and associations (Minister's Wives Association, young peoples' groups, camps, missionary societies, United Church Women) whose work is documented by minutes, financial records and, occasionally, correspondence files. Also included are records of the Joint Theological Colleges of McGill University and of the United Theological College, 1912-1948.

3. Local Churches, 1832-
   Many local churches retain their historical records, including civil registers. The Archives' holdings include records of approximately 75 individual congregations in the Montréal and Québec-Sherbrooke Presbyteries, consisting of minutes of governing bodies, communion rolls, minutes of organizations, accounts, annual reports, and occasionally photographs and architectural drawings. The most substantial and significant records are those of the Erskine and American (from 1832), including records of Canada Education and Home Missionary Society, 1833-1848, St James (from 1820), Zion Congregational (from 1832), and Odelltown (from 1829) congregations.

4. Missionary Work in French Canada, 1848-1861, 1876-1969
   The importance to the United Church and its parent denominations of mission work in French Canada is documented by minutes of the French Canadian Missionary Society (1848-1861), and papers, including sermons, notebooks and correspondence of the French Evangelical Church of Canada (1876-1969).

5. Papers of individuals, 1822-1925
   Papers of individuals include the correspondence, essays and sermons, 1870-1917, of Calvin E. Amaron; the Bieler Family; J. Armitage Ewing (largely concerning the controversies surrounding Union in 1925); William Mair, sermons, 1827-1855; Richard Robinson, diaries, personal records, sermon outlines, 1857-1912; Henry Wilkes, 1822-1878, and others.

Wallis' papers are grouped into three series: general scrapbooks, military scrapbooks, and military diaries. General scrapbooks, covering the years 1908-1977, contain letters, photographs, and printed materials relative to Wallis' career. Some volumes include his diary for the period, and all are heavily annotated. They cover all aspects of his career from high school to post-retirement, with special emphasis on his military career and social life. Military scrapbooks contain the same variety of materials for the period 1911-1969, but are devoted exclusively to Wallis' activities during the two World Wars, and his roles in the Black Watch and as an Honorary A.D.C. Military journals give brief reports of his daily activities form 1941 to 1945.

The fonds consists of the personal papers of Aimé Sydney Bruneau, including personal family and WWI correspondence, diaries, minutes, manuscripts, and Shakespeare manuscripts.

The Ross family fonds consists primarily of records related to the student achievements of the Ross children and includes student notebooks, news clippings, convocation programmes, certificates, and memorabilia of the Red and White Revue such as songs, photographs and original songs. Edward Russell Paterson’s student notebooks in geology, petrography and English literature are included.

In addition, there are two diaries of William Stieven Paterson’s from his travels through Civil War battlefields in the southern USA and a trip to Cuba; 8 photograph albums depicting the Paterson side of the family; 3 scrapbooks of magazine stories for children, poems and household hints; and correspondence between Dorothy Jean Ross and the McGill University Archives.

Selected papers of the Hart Family include a diary kept by Bernard Samuel Judah (an in-law of the Harts) during a voyage to the United States to visit his son Samuel, 1827-1828; a Jewish calendar belonging to Alan Judah Hart with notices of family births and deaths, 1903-1930, and few diary entries, 1917-1919; a few items of correspondence of Alan Hart and his family relating to family history, 1923-1972; some notes on family history, and 25 portraits (photographs, silhouettes) of family members from 1823 to ca 1960.

Collection consists chiefly of manuscripts produced by Frederick T. Bason, including a handwritten version of the author's manuscript "Summer" (19 leaves, written in 1962) and a two-part typescript of "The Last Bassoon," complete with the editor's corrections (part 1, pages 1-132 and part 2, pages 133-291). File 2 also includes a 24-page booklet of "Fred Bason goes fishing," published in 1959. File 1 also contains the following items: 1. A typewritten note from Fred Bason addressed to the owner of the original manuscript of 'The Last Bassoon,' dated January 1962. 2. A typewritten one-page list titled "Fred Bason has for sale the following splendid books." 3. A two-page handwritten letter dated January 1961, addressed to M. James, written on Fred Bason's author letterhead. In this letter, Bason expresses his gratitude for a cheque for a purchased manuscript, discusses his lectures in England, and mentions potential lectures in Quebec, specifically at McGill University.