Collection consists of Nova Scotia colonial government records, together with British and French imperial records relating to Nova Scotia, and comprises one continuous sequence of numbered volumes that have been arranged into 28 described series.

Fonds consists of correspondence, 1857-1890; printed reports by Thomas B Akins on the activities of the Commissioner of Public Records, 1857, 1858, 1860, 1864; printed and annotated catalogue of records held by the Commissioner of Public Records, 1859; notebook relating to reference enquiries and the organization of the books and records of the Commissioner of Public Records, 1885 and journals of James Farquahar, 1858-1859 and Thomas B. Akins, 1857-1891.