The collection comprises material and memorabilia of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, including:
Papers from 1832 to 1903, including pastoral letters and correspondence relating to his acquisition of The Tablet and his notebooks and sermon notes.
Material relating to Vaughan and his family including books by, relating to and about Vaughan, books by and about the Vaughan family, biographical material, books of cuttings from local and national newspapers, collected by Vaughan's Mill Hill neighbour Caroline Hanmer and relating to Vaughan and his work, and other newspaper cuttings.
Artefacts and personal effects such as Vaughan's bishop's hat.
Other material such as material relating to the 1966 centenary of the founding of St Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart for Foreign Missions, and miscellaneous material such as publications on Westminster Cathedral, and information on 18th and 19th century English Catholics.

Publications include bound volumes of mission magazines left by Vaughan, such as: Annals of the Propagation of the Faith (1838-1902) and Illustrated Catholic Missions (a monthly publication that Vaughan helped to found in 1885; incomplete).

Papers of Fred Dunston, 1939-2002, relate to Youth Aliyah and comprise correspondence and papers between the those responsible for the management of the refugee centres at Great Engeham Farm, Kent and Bydown and Braunton, Devon, relating to the management of the institutions; also some letters from the child refugees.

Correspondence and papers, 1814-1958, of and relating to Robert Morrison and his missionary work, translations, and life in China and Malacca, comprising letters of Morrison to various correspondents, 1820-1830; three letter books of Thomas Fisher, 1824-1836, largely comprising copy letters from Fisher in Hoxton to Morrison in Canton and Morrison's replies, and also including correspondence between Fisher and John Robert Morrison, Fisher's papers relating to memoirs of Robert Morrison, and various cuttings and inserts; manuscript translation by William Milne, 1814, of a Chinese catechism compiled and printed at Canton by Morrison (1811-1812); manuscripts of and relating to Morrison and his translations and missionary work, 1824-1826; undated [early 19th century] copy of Morrison's domestic memoir, written in 1824, including references to his family; Morrison's grant of power of attorney, 1826; manuscript containing copies [1832] of various letters from Morrison, 1809-1832; examples of texts printed at Morrison's press, 1831 and undated; publications of Morrison, comprising a printed list of his publications [after 1822], discourse given at Hoxton Academy (1825), pamphlet on Chinese language and literature, Chinese Miscellany (1825), and manuscript of the same; printed report on missionary work in China, 1832; papers relating to the Anglo-Chinese College, Malacca, comprising a deed, 1820, printed prospectus, c1820, and reports, 1823-1836 (incomplete series); copies of The Indo-Chinese Gleaner, 1821, and The Evangelist and Miscellanea Sinica, 1833; printed report on China and Canton, 1823; papers relating to Morrison, 1934-1958, including correspondence, typescripts and press cuttings.