The greater part of the collection concerns the military and literary career of Captain George Evelyn Cowley. These include holograph and printed poems and stories, and letters from Cowley to his father from Gallipoli and Paris.
There are papers relating to the genealogy of the Dutton family, concerning John Dutton of Madeley, Shropshire and his attempt to establish a claim to the estate of the Broadhurst family (residence unknown) in 1835.
There are also twelve letters, concerning personal matters and current affairs, written to Jane Elizabeth Digby El Mezrab during her time in Damascus, Syria. Correspondents include Isabel Burton, wife of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890).