This addition to the fonds consists of 10 letters (some fragments) written by Frances Stewart to her granddaughter and relatives in England, concerning her pioneer life in the Peterborough area. There is also one photograph of Harriet as young child which was photographed in London, England (biographical information is written on the back of the photograph).

This addition to the fonds consists of two original letters written by Frances Stewart to relatives in Ireland. There is also an original invoice from a linen draper and haberdasher.

The grasses scrapbook was compiled by Catharine Parr Traill for her friend James Fletcher and given to him 12 January 1894. The inside cover has the following inscriptions: "Grasses from Stony Lake gathered and mounted by Cathe Parr Traill - Aged 92 years." These specimens are from the Island of Minne Wa-Wa and Otter Island. July-September 1893" and "With Mrs.Traill's kind wishes to her much valued and esteemed friend James Fletcher F.S.L.S. & etc. January 12th, 1894". The scrapbook consists of 20 pages, 18 of which have pressed grasses, from the Stoney Lake area of the Island of Minne Wa-Wa and Otter Island, glued onto them. Also included in the scrapbook is a specimen list of the grasses and a photocopy of an article, entitled "Grasses from Stony Lake Gathered and Mounted by Cathe Parr Traill - Aged 92 Years". The article was written by William G. Dore and published in The Ontario Naturalist in 1966.

The framed mosses were gathered by Catharine Parr Traill in the Stoney Lake area. Prior to the Archives receiving this addition, the pages were taken apart, mounted and framed in two frames each containing three pages of mosses; one medium frame containing "Sedges & grass, with mosses, from the bank below the garden at Westove. Gathered and arranged for Katie. With Grandmother's dear love. Oct. 24th, 1889"; and one small frame with Traill's autograph.

This item is a 26-page photocopy of typescript of a letter of reminiscence written in 1910 by Margaret Bird, of Peterborough, Ontario, when she was an elderly woman. It tells of her abuse at the hands of her husband including one attempt to poison her. It describes her difficult life in late nineteenth-century Peterborough.

This photograph includes portraits of 66 male graduates and 62 female graduates of the 1912-13 Peterborough Business College graduating class. Also included in the photograph are portraits of six instructors and administrators.