The collection comprises papers of Granville Bantock from the 1900s up until a month before his death. The bulk of the collection consists of Granville's letters to his second child, Raymond, along with a number of Raymond's letters in response to his father. There is some correspondence between Granville and various other individuals, largely related to Granville's musical career and his position at the University of Birmingham. There are also a number of postcards, mostly sent from Granville to various members of his family, which demonstrate the extent of his travel and his interest in the Far-East.
The correspondence of Granville and his son covers a wide range of subjects. The letters span the period from the 1910s up until the 1930s, and therefore would be of interest to researchers concerned with the First World War, the political climate between the two World Wars, as well as literary and cultural developments in this period. The letters cover Raymond's training and work in the Navy, his time as a student at the University of Oxford, the period he spent as a teacher in Japan, and his later life as a family man with young children. Granville was initially strongly opposed to Raymond's desire to pursue a career in art and literature as he saw it as an uncertain profession in post-war England. His letters make it clear that he would have preferred Raymond to have remained in the Navy and progressed up through the ranks. However, he later becomes very supportive of Raymond as an undergraduate, and then as a lecturer and academic both in the United Kingdom and in the Far East. The letters often refer to other members of the family, in particular, Angus, who served on the front-line during the First World War.
The Bantock family moved several times and there are accounts and details of each of their homes, largely in and around Birmingham. Their domestic life in general is a frequent topic; there is much discussion of their various pets, including kittens, dogs and birds. At one point Granville expresses an interest in 'table-turning séances' and there are references to his spiritual beliefs. The health of the family is also a favourite topic; Granville suffers regularly with coughs and colds, and frequently vows to cut down on his smoking. Later letters indicate some anti-Semitic feeling on the part of Granville, in particular his comments about his Jewish landlord in London and the musical editor of the Oxford University Press.
Granville's composition is a key topic throughout the collection. The letters evidence the gradual progress of many of Granville's works, including 'The Seal-Woman', 'The March', 'Oriental Dance', 'The Pagan Symphony', 'Pierrot of the Minute', 'The Song of Songs', and music for various plays including 'The Crescent Moon', 'Judith' and 'The Great God Pan'. Other musicians are mentioned in the collection, including Donald Tovey and Jean Sibelius. There are a number of letters referring to Sibelius's proposed visit to the United Kingdom in 1925.