Much of the collection concerns William Dunlop, Principal of Glasgow University, his son Alexander, Professor of Greek at Glasgow, and his grandson John, Tide Surveyor at Greenock. The papers of William Dunlop include material on the colony of South Carolina, the Darien Scheme, and the affairs of the Church of Scotland, while those of Alexander chiefly concern the University of Glasgow. The collection also includes diaries and literary works of John Dunlop of Gairbraid, the temperance reformer.