The fonds consists of Cyril Belshaw's personal and professional papers. The professional records chronicle both his involvement in numerous local, national, and international organizations (including the Academic Board for Higher Education in British Columbia, the Regional Training Centre for United Nations Fellows, the Social Science Research Council of Canada, the Pacific Sciences Association, UNESCO, and the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association), and his teaching and administrative activities at UBC. The records also include his original research material and data into various groups in the South Pacific, and other topics in anthropology. More personal records related to his education and family. Also included are materials about the disappearance and subsequent inquiry into the death of Betty Joy Belshaw. The materials include meeting minutes, course materials, publications, manuscripts, research journals, personal diaries and agendas, financial statements, press clippings, photographs, maps and audio-visual materials.

Fonds contains five series: Correspondence, Notes, and Reports (1947-1976); Indigenous Peoples of BC Research (1954-1967); Doukhobors (1948-1954); Northern Development Research (1972); Harry Hawthorn Project (19--); and Audio (1971) series.