The administrative records constitute the bulk of the collection; they include annual reports, and financial statements of John Millen & Co. and related firms, 1962-1972; quarter-monthly reports, 1956-1969; memoranda, 1961-1969; files concerning clients, products, sales, and inventory, 1960-1969; executive meetings, 1960; staff lists, 1955-1970; budgets, 1965; files on Exide & Oil Co. Sales, 1964-1968; file on Modern Sales Ltd., 1943-1970 and business correspondence, 1943-1972. Legal records consist of leases, 1963-1964; employee contract between S.B. Millen and John Millen & Son Ltd., 1968; correspondence, memoranda, and court cases, ca 1930-1936. Also included are reports and typescripts on the principles of management and sales, 1948, 1960-1969, as well as some newspaper clippings.

About half of Donald's papers consist of diaries giving brief daily records of his professional and sometimes personal activities from 1918 to 1981. The remaining files fall into two series. Essays and addresses, 1919-1962, largely on economic aspects of the chemical industry, were addressed to professional organizations and commercial bodies such as the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Canadian Chemical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the Industrial Development Board of Manitoba. More informal speeches include a radio talk on jobs in the chemical industry, 1938. Personal materials comprise some family, legal and investment records, 1940-1952, and undergraduate essay on medieval universities, 1910, correspondence related to an annuity fund set up by Donald for Jessie Henderson, secretary and librarian of McGill's Chemistry Department (1946-1961), and a file of press releases and congratulatory letters on Donald's receipt of the Chemical Industry Medal, 1952-1953.

Correspondence 1921-1931 concerning Simon McTavish; official copies of legal documents including estate inventories, lawsuits over the McTavish estate, and Simon McTavish’s will; notes for Baylis’ study of McTavish; numerous petitions and newspaper clippings on the state of the McTavish monument and tomb (Peel St., Montreal), and a typescript of his text concerning Simon McTavish. Also two letters from Ignatius Donnelly, 1899, and a letter 1895, from J. Middleton to John Doyle about 19th century gardening in Montreal and the funeral of Judge James Reid.

The project files which occupy most of the archives of J.T. Donald and Co. fall into two series: ordinary business and special assignments. Both series contain the firms report's, and correspondence. Special assignments were largely connected with wartime armaments production. A few files concern work for the Imperial Munitions Board in World War I, but most consist of reports for the Chemical and Explosives Branch of the Department of Munitions and Supply, 1939-1948. Ordinary projects involve consultation for food, pulp and paper, petroleum, and chemical manufacturies, as well as for some government departments, 1888-1940. Outgoing correspondence from 1881 to 1909 is contained in letterbooks. A file of legal documents, 1924-1946, refer to claims against the company, agreements, and partnerships. Also included are an undated notebook on chemical analysis, and scrapbooks and files of newsclippings of professional interest (e.g. reports of explosions caused by oil and gas) covering the period 1916-1958. There are also reports on mining and energy sources prepared by Donald alone and also in partnership with J.H. Ross for various private and government bodies.

The fonds consist of copies of deeds, some of which concern the British-American Land Co., that were executed by Torrance for the period 1856 to 1861, and a notebook of opinions on Québec legal questions, including copies of letters from the firm Torrance & Morris (1857-1859).

Fonds consists of primarily financial and legal records related to property transfers and the estates of members of the Dawes and Leishman families. It includes land sale deeds, court documents, invoices, receipts, and wills. Business and legal affairs of James P. Dawes, his wife Elizabeth Leishman, and their son Albert F. Dawes are represented in the fonds. Business deals associated with James P. Dawes include with Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada. Many legal documents in the fonds are related to land holdings and property in Lachine, Quebec.

The fonds consists of documents and letters accumulated during the course of Griffin's legal career, including: dockets of the firm Griffin & Sewell, 1833-1875; legal notes by Griffin concerning wills, sales, and mortgages 1850-1876; legal documents of property transfers and marriage contracts 1826-1860; and notes on marine insurance in the St Lawrence 1843-1848. There are as well two notebooks of legal definitions, dating from approximately 1860.

This material documents the estate of Mrs. Charlotte Frobisher and includes a copy of her will and an inventory, 1820.

These are various business papers of Simon McTavish and include partnership agreements with William and Duncan McGillivray, William Hallowell, Roderick McKenzie, Angus Shaw and James Hallowell, 1806 and drafts of agreement for seven years between McTavish, Frobisher and Company and John Fraser of London, Simon McGillivray and John Tullon, 1805.

This material comprises a group of official documents, and correspondence among various partners. The official documents include four articles of agreement for partnership between various Montréal companies, largely with McTavish, Frobisher and Co., 1790-1802, and a memorandum on the effect of exchange differences on the partners' shares (approximately 1826). The partners' correspondence, approximately 1792-1808, contains letters from Simon McTavish, Isaac Todd, and Alexander Mackenzie concerning provisions, business agreements and loans. A letter from William McGillivray to Mr Justice Reid discusses family matters. One financial ledger for the North West Company contains business accounts and records transactions. The bulk of entries are dated from January 1810 to November 1825, with some entries dated 1861.