The collection consists of documents from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries related to mining in the area around Princeton, British Columbia. Many of the documents pertain to Alfred St. George Hamersley’s involvement with mining in this region, mostly notably with the Vermilion Forks Mining and Development Company. Records also relate to W.J. Waterman and Ernest Waterman’s activities in the mining industry of this region, particularly Ernest Waterman’s role as manager of the Vermillion Forks Mining and Development Company. Business of the Anglo-American Gold and Platinum Hydraulic Mining Company Limited Liability, the Princeton Water Power Company, and the London and Vancouver Finance and Development Company Limited is also documented.
Records are arranged into files that correspond to items in the collection. Document types include correspondence, sales of shares, land, and mineral rights, business and mining licenses, lease agreements, land registries, and Government of British Columbia receipts. A map of the region is also included.

The fonds consists of records related to British Columbia politician and judge Alexander Malcolm Manson's life. The records in this fonds encompass all aspects of Manson's life and were produced both through his career and in his personal life. Notably, the fonds contains extensive records from Manson's political career, his judicial career, and the investments and trusts he managed. Many areas of Manson's life overlapped considerably, including overlapping careers, and records related to one area of his life may be found among records related to another area.

The contents of this fonds consist predominantly of correspondence, including carbon copies of correspondence sent by Manson. This correspondence pertains both to Manson's career as well as to various parts of his personal life and has been arranged according to the file names used by Manson wherever possible; correspondence that has not otherwise been sorted by Manson has been sorted as "general correspondence," a designation which also includes personal correspondence. Other types of records in this fonds include meeting minutes, court proceedings, financial statements, newspaper clippings, governmental reports, shareholder reports, certificates, invitations and event programmes, and photographs.

The fonds has been arranged into eight series: legal career; political career; judicial career; finances; personal life; Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; general correspondence; and photographs, scrapbooks, and ephemera.

The fonds consists primarily of Alan Haig-Brown's written and photographic works on the marine industry in Canada and internationally. Photographs document ships and boats, maritime scenes and personalities in fishing and ship-building. The geographical scope of the photographs includes British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii; Southern Coastal US (Texas and Louisiana); Thailand, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines; Netherlands; Brazil.

Textual records include annotated drafts for several of Haig-Brown's books, hand-written notes, newspaper clippings, design schematics and correspondence.

The fonds also contains audio recordings of interviews and oral histories with figures in the maritime trades.

The collection consists of materials related to Aboriginal Peoples’ land claims and forestry practices in British Columbia and worldwide. Materials include correspondence, press clippings, publications, and reports.