The fonds consists of photographs and textual records spanning the period 1710-1984, predominantly 1850-1940, related to business and personal lives of five generations of the McLennan family (immediate and extended), as well as to the work of Montreal lawyer, Frederick Griffin. McLennan family materials consist of photographs; incoming and outgoing correspondence; genealogical information and family histories; diaries and remembrances; newspaper clippings and ephemera; official documents; obituaries and tributes; drafts of writings, research notes, and sketches; and other documents.

The McLennan family materials includes a series reflecting William McLennan’s writing career, personal interests, and family life. William McLennan’s materials include full and partial drafts of published and unpublished works; research and reference materials; incoming and outgoing correspondence; legal and official documents; collected historical materials and documents; notes; sketches; journals; newspaper clippings and ephemera; photographs; and other materials.

The fonds also consists of a series reflecting Frederick Griffin’s occupation as a lawyer and his role as founder of the Canadian Loan Company. Frederick Griffin’s materials include incoming correspondence and draft responses; various financial and legal documents; legal research notes and drafts of legal documents; memoranda; meeting minutes; land and property documents and surveyors reports; newspaper clippings and ephemera; and other documents.

Finally, the fonds contains a series consisting of William Durie McLennan’s records, which were primarily created between 1914 and 1915 and pertain to his military service during the First World War. Record types in this series include the following: a handwritten, personal notebook; a typescript of this notebook; correspondence; service records from the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces; news clippings; black and white photographs; collected signatures from Canadian dignitaries; and materials from the 5th Battery Association of 1914.

The series consists of photographs and textual records spanning the period 1850-1984, predominantly 1880-1960, relating to the McLennan family as arranged by Hugh McLennan (1927-2004). The series also comprises records related to Hugh McLennan's work as a camp counsellor north of Montreal during the early 1940s.

The series includes photographs; incoming and outgoing correspondence; genealogical and family information; diaries, including World War I diaries, and remembrances; newspaper clippings and ephemera; official documents, including wills and marriage certificates; obituaries and tributes; drafts of writings, research notes, and sketches; McLennan's coil-bound notebooks about canoe trips, a typescript of one of McLennan's camping journals and accompanying photographs; a letter to a family member regarding McLennan family genealogy; and photocopies of birth, marriage, and death notes in the family Bible. Family members prominently represented include Hugh McLennan (1825-1899), John Stewart McLennan (1853-1939), Francis McLennan (1857-1940), Bartlett McLennan (1868-1918), Isabella Christine McLennan (1870-1960), Hugh McLennan (1887-1915), and William McLennan (1856-1904).

The series contains textual records spanning the period 1908-1936 created by, collected by, or related to the immediate or extended McLennan family. This material might have been created and/or collected after the death of William McLennan, particularly by his son, William Durie McLennan, and does not appear to have been arranged by Hugh McLennan (1927-2004). Material includes correspondence, including a bound volume of World War I letters; histories of the MacLeod clan and William Stewart; and ephemera.