The fonds document H. Rocke Robertson’s personal and family life, including his early education, his athletic abilities, his experiences during WWII in Britain, Sicily, and Italy, as well as some aspects of his professional life, including articles, speeches, and correspondence on his activities as a surgeon, surgeon in chief, professor of surgery, and as McGill’s principal, inclusive 1912-1998. In particular, his tenure as McGill’s principal is characterized by records in diverse formats such as personal diaries, correspondence files, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, and related ephemera reflecting his administrative duties, including the changes he implemented at McGill, as well as his efforts to cope with radical student behaviour and the Quebec government’s unwillingness to provide McGill with much needed financial assistance. Robertson’s retirement activities are also reflected in the records. Also included are numerous documents that reveal his interest in rare English dictionaries, rare books, and the history of medicine, in particular the history of surgical techniques. The fonds consist of 18 boxes with some files arranged into subject categories while others have a chronological arrangement scheme.

The series consist of 1) Diaries; 2) Publications and Research Notes; 3) Speeches; 4) Personal and Family Related Materials; 5) Student Years at Brentwood College and McGill; 6) Medical and Professional Activities; 7) McGill Principalship and Administrative Activities; and 7) Awards and Honours.

The collection contains 164 botanical and zoological paintings created chiefly by Elizabeth Gwillim as well as possibly by her sister Mary Symonds while living in Chennai, India (then Madras). The collection includes 121 watercolours of birds with inscriptions, 31 watercolours of fish, and twelve of flowers, drawn from life rather than specimens. The paintings reflect the sisters' time in Madras during which, as artists and letter writers, they created a substantial visual record of the landscape and inhabitants of Madras and environs. The paintings also reflect Gwillim's scientific pursuits, including her study of botany.

This material consists of a journal kept at St. Giles de Beaurivage.

The collection consists of a German typescript titled "The Statischen Verhaeltnisse von Tragwerken," written in 1942, along with its English translation, "The Statical Conditions of Structures and the Methods of the Statical Calculation of Structures," completed in 1943. Both versions contain five foldable pages of illustrations.

Collection consists of three albums containing photographs taken at Grenfell Mission and one framed photograph. Albums feature many photographs of St. Anthony and the region, its inhabitants, the medical staff at the Grenfell Mission, and activities such as dogsledding.

Collections consists of holiday greeting cards. Description is forthcoming and will be published as it becomes available.

Approximately half of the Greenshields papers consist of photo albums showing vacation scenes with family and friends in St Andrew's, New Brunswick, 1905-1906, Europe, ca. 1905, and Sea Island, Georgia, 1939-1941. Photo albums compiled by Margaret Greenshields (Mrs Stephen White), daughter of Chief Justice Greenshields, contain army photos of Cyril White, 1915; pictures of family and friends, 1915; and views of scenery at Jasper, 1930. There are also a number of formal portraits of members of the family. The remainder of the papers consist largely of scrapbooks of clippings, correspondence and photographs. One contains newsclippings about Greenshields and some correspondence and photos. Another, compiled by Margaret Greenshields White, relates to her family's World War I service, 1914-1918. The other two, assembled by Mrs R.A.E. Greenshields, contain Golden Wedding souvenirs, 1940; and material on the death of Chief Justice Greenshields, 1942. Also included is a presentation drawing by architect Edward Maxwell of the house on Drummond St. which he designed for Greenshields.

Fonds documents Grant Woolmer's career as an antiquarian book dealer. The records include:

• Card File. 1954 – 1998, 628.5 cm of 3" x 5" (7.5 cm x 12.5 cm) index cards describing every book owned and sold by Grant Woolmer giving description and price. Over 30,000 cards.

• Catalogues. 1954 – 1998, 180 cm. Complete run of catalogues of Antique Book Shop, later Grant Woolmer Books. Over 400 different catalogues.

• Financial Records. 1954 – 1998, 250 cm. 6 ledgers giving daily income and disbursements; invoices, etc.

• Mailing list, undated, 5 cm. Some 200 names of institutions, dealers and private collectors mimeographed on 7 sheets.

• Newspaper clippings and ephemera. 1980 –1998, 5 cm. File consisting of clippings and articles relating to the antiquarian book trade, as well obituaries of antiquarian book dealers and collectors. About 200 items.

• Bates List Finder. 1980s – 1990s, 3 cm. Alphabetical telephone directory and addresses for frequently called numbers.

This is an archive of family memorabilia, with no records of the professional careers of the Grants. Amongst the family memorials are Angelina Grant's brief notes on Grant family history, 1962, and the school-girl albums, assembled in 1910 by Bertha and her sister Edith, on the history of Grantville and the physical and human geography of Truro. As well, there is a memorial album of callers at Angelina Grant's funeral and five Bibles, most of which contain family obituaries. Family photographs are grouped in a large album of formal portraits, mostly by Boston photographers, ca 1875-1900; a small album of snapshots, ca 1935-1950; and about a dozen mounted or framed portraits, ca 1890-1930. None are identified. Private memorials include an autograph album and birthday book, ca 1887-1890, belonging to Jamima (Jenny) Dowring Grant, Bertha and Dolly's aunt; Bertha's scrapbook, ca 1960-63, largely of obituaries, wedding notices and items of religious interest; and Angelina's diary and address book, ca 1962-74, with her notes on the weather and the deaths of her friends and members of the family.

The fonds consists of two copies, one bound, the other unbound, of the Ph.D. thesis of G.V.R. Murty entitled "A statistical study of concentration in the manufacturing industries of Canada".