Petitions and letters from applicants for licences, bonds posted and certificates submitted with applications, reports and schedules of licences issued and other documents submitted by the applicants or created by the officials examining their qualifications have been grouped in sub-series by type of licence sought. General correspondence on the licensing function forms a part of several sub-series. The reintegration of documents with the numbered correspondence files (RG 4, C 1 or RG 5, C 1) and other series, and rationalization of the filing of lists and schedules of licences issued has eliminated several volumes from the series.
Volumes 1-8 contain lists, registers, returns and schedules of licences issued. Applications for licences as auctioneers and as cullers of timber form volumes 10-11 and 12-15. The bonds from applicants for marriage licences form volumes 29-41A while correspondence from the licence agents form volumes 42-45. Applications for medical licences form volumes 47-54. Pilots certificates in volume 56 complement records in RG 42 and MG 8, A 18. Applications for tavern or inn-keeping licences forming volumes 59-101 and for shop licences to vend liquors forming volumes 120-128 should be investigated together. Records of licences issued for the fur trade form volumes 110-115. The bonds from officials with fiduciary responsibilities, in volumes 129-138, are known to be an incomplete series.
A partial survey was made of the series' postal covers and it consists of covers for the period 1774 to 1845. Covers were in most cases mailed from Montreal and are addressed to Quebec. There are 42 postal covers in the fonds.
Of particular interest are Montreal's first postmark [M.2:16] used in 1774, the first manuscript postal markings for Berthier (1775) and Montreal (1775-1776). Straight-line postmarks are also present for Montreal (1787-1815) and for Three Rivers (1787).