The fonds consists of information of the 2001 conference held in Cairns’ honour, and articles that colleagues asked that he review before or after publication that include his notes.

Fonds consists of personal and professional materials of Beesley’s related to his career. The fonds is divided into seven series: Biographical/Personal Information series (1946, 1972-2009); Correspondence series (1973, 1979, 1980-1984); Articles, Statements, and Speeches series( 1967-2004); Newspaper Clippings series (1972-1982); International Law Commission (UN General Assembly Reports) series (1986-1992), Photographs series (1962-1963, 1972-1984, 1989, 2003), and Audiovisual series (1972-1982).