The collection contains 164 botanical and zoological paintings created chiefly by Elizabeth Gwillim as well as possibly by her sister Mary Symonds while living in Chennai, India (then Madras). The collection includes 121 watercolours of birds with inscriptions, 31 watercolours of fish, and twelve of flowers, drawn from life rather than specimens. The paintings reflect the sisters' time in Madras during which, as artists and letter writers, they created a substantial visual record of the landscape and inhabitants of Madras and environs. The paintings also reflect Gwillim's scientific pursuits, including her study of botany.
Cameron's papers comprise a journal kept in the Nipigon region from July 1804 to May 1805, together with a separate volume of extracts from the 1804 journal.
Collection consists of minutes of a meeting of the Committee of Ladies for the Relief of French Immigrants, Ladies and Female Children, 7 June 1796, as well as papers concerning relief of French clergy and laity.
Collections includes records relating to the Montreal Night Patrol, to which many prominent Montrealers subscribed. Files include lists of expenses incurred by the patrol, minutes from sessions, accounts and receipts, and subscription lists.
The collection contains business correspondence, including letters to William Grant and Grant, Campion & Co. from Brickwood, Pattle, & Co., 1792-1793, and letters from Brickwood & Daniell, John Blackwood, and McTavish, Fraser and Co., 1799-1800. There is also a bound letter book for Grant and Laframboise, Montreal, 1800-1801 with additional loose leaves of letter copies dating between 1798 and 1800.