The series consists of eight (8) “line a day” diaries and two (2) scrapbooks created by William Blackley Bamford between the years 1910-1946, reflecting his professional life as an agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, as well as his personal and family life. Bamford’s diaries document many aspects of his professional and personal life. Entries dealing with work life include information about time spent in the office, particular work projects, volume of work and work completed, business meetings and travel, and hirings made, among other topics. Entries related to personal life cover church attendance; visits made and received; birthdays and holidays; personal travel; leisure and recreational activities; purchases; banking and financial information and transactions; voting habits; household and garden chores and repairs; personal and family illness and death; moves and real estate transactions; organizational memberships and responsibilities; gifts received and given; important family events; and personal appointments. The diaries also include information of general interest, such as weather; local, regional, and world news updates, including war news; election results; and sports scores. Some diaries include inserts, such a list of political candidates and a church service program, and memoranda such as lock combinations. The diaries in the series begin when Bamford was residing in St. John, New Brunswick, and continue through a move to Nelson, British Columbia, where Bamford died.
Scrapbooks in the series contain newspaper clippings related to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company; marriages and deaths of note; quotes and poems; pictures; and articles on topics of general interest, including Canadian and American news, society, and history; astronomy; popular entertainment; and the British royal family. Scrapbooks also contain business and personal correspondence and ephemera, including various programs, tickets, and invitations; menus; maps and guides; schedules and bulletins; membership cards and certificates; bills of lading; informational booklets and pamphlets; posters and notices; stamps; travel documents; bills and receipts; radio broadcast transcripts; sketches; statements of earnings; periodicals; and other material. Scrapbooks also contains some notes made by Bamford on Canadian Pacific Railway history. William Blackley Stanley Bamford’s diaries indicate that he worked on his father’s scrapbook after his death.