The collection comprises the following series: Biographical and personal; Professional (including Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners, Ministry of Works, Arthur Guinness Son & Co., Federation of British Industry); Correspondence; and Lectures, speeches and addresses. Throughout his career, Sir Hugh maintained correspondence or personal relations with former friends, colleagues and acquaintances; in addition, he collected photographs, press-cuttings, published reports or records bearing on people or subjects of interest to him. The collected papers thus contain information about the British Army in India, Wellington College, as well as matters immediately connected with Sir Hugh's own life and work. Sir Hugh had intended to write, during his retirement, an account of his family and its branches, including his own life and times. He had accumulated a great deal of material, drawn up outlines of the work and completed drafts of some sections, but he died before the task was finished. The collection contains his account of his schooldays at Glengorse and his service in India, and some of his intended recollections of distinguished colleagues. These include Lord Waverley (John Anderson) and Lord Reith, with whom Beaver had a long association, 1940-1960, and from whom a considerable number of letters survive. Many of the shorter, less formal speeches and addresses include autobiographical reflections, and there are also notes of meetings, conversations, and discussions.