The collection consists of a series of interviews carried out by Michael Welton with various friends and colleagues of Watson Thomson as part of his dissertation research for "To Be and Build the Glorious World: The Educational Thought and Practice of Watson Thomson, 1899-1946" (1983).

The collection consists of records collected by Professor David Macaree in his research on early 18th Century English literature. It includes transcribed typed copies of the complete works of David Crawford (or Crawfurd) (ca. 1700); a copy of an article written by Macaree about Crawford (1961); and photocopies of early political pamphlets by Daniel Defoe (ca. 1700-1714).