The fonds consists of diaries, scrapbooks, and correspondence spanning the period 1910-2003 and related to the professional and personal lives of three generations of the Bamford family—William Blackley Bamford, his son William Blackley Stanley Bamford, and his grandson William Huestis Bamford—as well as to members of the Lasell and Ord families, related by marriage to William Huestis Bamford. Diaries in the fonds include concise “five year” or “line a day” diaries, as well as more detailed daily journals and many cover aspects of the Bamfords’ professional and personal life.

Scrapbooks in the fonds, which contain newspaper clippings, ephemera, correspondence, photographs, notes, and other material, primarily reflect the Bamfords’ personal interests, but also interests their chosen professions and employers, including the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and the Bank of Montreal. Beyond the incoming and outgoing personal and professional correspondence included in the scrapbooks, the Esther Adelina Lasell Bamford series contains incoming correspondence related to a branch of the Ord family living in New Zealand.

The fonds is arranged into four series by family member: William Blackley Bamford; William Blackley Stanley Bamford; William Huestis Bamford; and Esther Adelina Lasell Bamford.

The collection consists of exhibits, videotapes and documents collected for the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), correspondence and legal documents related to both the PCC and related legal actions, APEC Alert posters, information, pamphlets and ephemera, other material collected and created by Oppenheim with regard to the events surrounding APEC and the RCMP PCC, transcripts of the PCC proceedings, and a number of photographs.

Fonds consists of legal documents, reports, publications, speeches, newspaper clippings and other material related to Evans’ labour activities, including the On-to-Ottawa Trek and resulting Regina Riot Commission, and the defence of Trek members arrested in the Regina Riot. There is also material related to the Canadian Labour Defence League, the Communist Party of Canada, and material in support of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.

The fonds consists mainly of subject files created by Anthony Gargrave in his work as a CCF MLA for the riding of Mackenzie, British Columbia, 1952-1958. Some of the subject areas include forestry, fishing, parks, education, municipal affairs, and Indian affairs.

The research collection consists of interviews conducted for a published biography on Grace MacInnis. Interviewees include Dave Barrett, Rosemary Brown, Cliff Scotton, Harold Winch, and Bruce Woodsworth. She also collected speeches made by Grace MacInnis in the House of Commons as printed by Hansard, 1966-1974.

The fonds consists primarily of subject files created and accumulated by Amy Dalgleish relating to various organizations in which she was involved such as the New Democratic Party and the Vancouver Society of Friends for the Elderly as well as social issues such as breastfeeding. The fonds also contain records from Ms. Dalgleish’s 1956 legal case before the B.C. Supreme Court on the right of a woman to use her maiden name on probate documents, as well as correspondence related to her various areas of political engagement.

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 of writings by Alan Whitehorn on the CCF, NDP, and the Communist Party. Fonds includes articles and manuscripts. Some texts are co-authored by Keith Archer.

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.