Fonds consists of the personal papers of Harold Mayne Daly, largely concerned with Canadian politics and with Mr. Daly's military experience. Included are correspondence, predominantly 1896-1967; commissions, certificates, invitations, Christmas cards, memoirs, autobiographical notes, clippings, notes, short essays, quotations and short stories, and rhymes of A.T. Thompson.
The fonds consists of prints including portraits of a number of prominent Canadian, American, and British politicians, colonial governors, and others.
There are also 152 black and white photographs including portraits of John A. Macdonald, Charles Tupper, and others; depictions of Overseas Forestry Draft, Exhibition Camp, Toronto, Ontario; Brock Centenary; Niagara in winter, Niagara Falls, Ontario; Inter-Parliamentary Union's 23rd Conference, Ottawa, Ontario.
In addition, the fonds contains a relief papier-maché portrait of Sir John A. Macdonald; two printing plates for portraits of Sir John A. Macdonald and Arthur Meighen produced by the Union Engraving Company.
Philatelic material in the fonds consists of a first-day envelope, prepared especially for the installation ceremony commemorating the first general public operation of a coin letter box (the Mailomat) installed for official testing in Ottawa, Ontario, Postal Station B, 3 February, 1944.
The fonds also contains a sound recording of part of a speech by the Right Hon. Arthur Meighen, about Great Britains's war effort, and isolationism, delivered before the International Affiliation Sales and Advertising Club, Toronto, 1941.
Daly, Harold, 1880-1969 : Harold Mayne Daly, lawyer, was born at Stratford, Ontario, the son of the Hon. Thomas Mayne Daly, who was Minister of the Interior, 1892-1896. He studied law at Brandon, Manitoba, became a lawyer in British Columbia, and later practiced for many years in Ottawa as a departmental and parliamentary agent. He served in the South African War, 1900-1901, and was a staff officer during World War I, retiring in 1919 with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel. He was private secretary to the Leader of the Opposition in 1925, and continued to be active in the Conservative Party. Mr. Daly was also a collector of material relating to political history.
