The contents are as follows: (i) Copies of memoranda, general orders, and letters, 1857-1858, of, and to, Sir Charles Elliot, extracted from two letter books, respecting naval operations in the Canton River and the storming of Canton during the Second China War (folio 1); (ii) Miscellaneous papers, 1867-70, undated, chiefly concerning life at Bonjedward House (Roxburghshire) (folio 34).

The papers chiefly concern the raising of a French royalist regiment. This was to be paid for by the British government and commanded by Charles Grant. Many of the documents are applications for commissions from French officers, listing their previous service. There is also some correspondence about Grant's own career, his plans to take troops to Mauritius and Réunion in 1794, and events in France.

With legal papers, 1851-1852 (page 1), and others of a later date, and modern material regarding the incorporation and its records (pages 152, 159).

Folios 40-41 is a list of shipwrecks off the east coast of Scotland in the years 1831 to 1833, together with some observations on the incidence of losses and the contributory factors.

There are a number of letters to David Steuart Erskine, Earl of Buchan (succeeded 1767), which relate largely to his antiquarian interests. Most of the other letters are also of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and the writers include noblemen, churchmen, public servants, and prominent literary figures.

The contents are as follows: Miscellaneous letters, 1847-1859, concenring Henry Cockburn's statement of financial affairs November 1847;

Letters, 1848, concerning sale of house in Charlotte Square;

Correspondence, 1850 from Scottish Widows Fund and Equitable Assurance;

Tax accounts;

Papers, 1854, concerning Bonaly House.