Series consists of correspondence exchanged between Catharine Parr Traill and her sisters, her correspondence with other members of the extended Traill family, and correspondence received by some of her descendants. The correspondence is arranged in five groupings: correspondence received by Catharine Parr Traill; some miscellaneous letter drafts by Traill; correspondence about a testimonial fund established for Traill in 1898; correspondence received by various members of the extended Traill family, including letters to them from Catharine Parr Traill, and some correspondence received by her descendants; and additional correspondence which includes both letters received by Catharine Parr Traill and letters received by members of her extended family. The correspondence series also includes three sub-series: correspondence from William Edward Traill and Walter John Strickland Traill, along with related documents of William Traill's concerning the Hudson's Bay Company; correspondence from Walter John Strickland Traill to Annie and Clinton Atwood; and correspondence on microfilm reel A-809 from Thomas Traill along with some related material.
The correspondence received by Catharine Parr Traill is arranged in five groupings: general correspondence; correspondence from James Fletcher of the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa; correspondence from Traill's sisters in England (Agnes Strickland, Elizabeth Strickland, Jane Strickland, and Sarah Gwillym); correspondence from Susanna Moodie; and correspondence from the Methodist Book and Publishing House (with drafts of some letters by Traill). The general correspondence to Traill includes letters from Frances Stewart, John Garland, Colonel Brown and Agnes Chamberlin, Goldwin Smith, W. Kirby, Mary Agnes FitzGibbon, Geraldine Moodie, Sir Sandford Fleming, Thomas O'Hagan, Ishbel Aberdeen and John Lowe.
The correspondence relating to the testimonial fund established for Catharine Parr Traill in 1898 largely comprises letters to organizer Sir Sandford Fleming from colleagues and contributors. Among the correspondents are Agnes Chamberlin, Ishbel Aberdeen, William Briggs, J.M. LeMoine, Adeline Van Horne, S.E. Dawson, Andrew T. Drummond, John Fletcher and John Lowe.
The correspondence received by various members of Traill's extended family include Traill's own letters to her sisters Susanna Moodie and Sarah Gwillym, to her friend Frances Stewart and to Stewart's daughter, Ellen Dunlop, and to other recipients. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipients, who include members of the Atwood and Muchall families. Among the letters are ones written by Frances Stewart, Susanna Moodie, Elizabeth Strickland, Jane Strickland, Agnes Strickland, Agnes Chamberlin, Sydney Tully and Thomas Traill.
The additional correspondence is also arranged alphabetically by correspondent. The recipients include Ellen Dunlop, Canon Richard Gwillym, Catharine Parr Traill, George Traill, James Traill, Katherine Agnes Strickland Traill, Katherine Parr Traill, Thomas Traill and William Edward Traill, among others. The additional correspondence includes many letters written by Catharine Parr Traill, as well as some letters from the Strickland sisters in England and from Susanna Moodie.
