The papers consist of a letter from MacGregor's father, one in verse from Hannah More (1745-1833) and a letterbook concerning the loss of the KENT (which was closed to readers until 1983). Some later items, 1869 to 1883, relate to canoeing. There is also a copy of a letter from MacGregor's father-in-law, Admiral Sir James Crawford Caffin (1812-1883), written to his parents in 1827 after the battle of Navarino.

Administrative / biographical background
As an infant, MacGregor was saved from the East Indiaman KENT, which caught fire in the Bay of Biscay in 1825. He was well known as Rob Roy MacGregor because of his pioneering zeal while travelling in his canoe, the ROB ROY. This was first launched in 1865 and he navigated a network of rivers, canals and lakes, including the Rhine, Danube and Seine and Lakes Constance, Zurich and Lucerne. His most demanding voyage was in 1868 when he went through the Suez Canal down to the Red Sea and from thence to Palestine, navigating the Jordan and Lake Gennesareth. He published ' A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe' (London, 1866), 'A voyage alone in the Yawl Rob Roy' (London, 1867), 'The Rob Roy on the Baltic' (London, 1867) and 'The Rob Roy on the Jordan Red Sea and Gennesareth' (London, 1869). See also Edwin Hodder, 'John MacGregor ('Rob Roy')' (London, 1894).