The microfilms are copies of the decennial nominal census for Peterborough County from 1871. The microfilm also includes census records for parts of Northumberland East, Prince Edward and Hastings Counties.

Series consists of five microfilm reels of the decennial nominal census, of 1881, of Peterborough, Victoria, Hastings, Durham and Northumberland Counties. This collection includes the census of the towns, villages, and townships of Hastings County (north) and are listed as follows: Marmora Lake, Wollaston, Monteagle, Hershel, Wicklow, McClure, Bangor, Mayo, Carlo, Grimsthorpe, Elzevir, Dungannon, Faraday, Cashel, Limerick, Tudor, Sabine, Airey, Lyell, Murchison and Robinson; also Northumberland County (east), including Cramahe, Colborne (village), Brighton, Brighton (village), Murray, Percy, Seymour, Campbellford (village) and Hastings (village). Included also is Northumberland County (west) encompassing Alnwick, Haldimand, Hamilton, and Cobourg (town); and Peterborough County (east), which includes Ashburnham (village), Norwood (village), Burleigh, Anstruther, Chandos, Harvey, Galway, Cavendish, Belmont, Methuen, Hastings (village), Asphodel, Stanhope, Sherborne, McClintock, Dudley, Dysart, Harcourt, Snowden, Glamorgan, Monmouth, Cardiff, Minden, Douro, Otonabee, and Dummer. Also included is Peterborough County (west), encompassing Peterborough (town), Smith, Monaghan (north), Monaghan (south), and Ennismore; also Durham County (east), which includes Hope, Port Hope (town), Cavan, Manvers, Millbrook (village); also Durham County (west), which includes Darlington, Newcastle (village), Clarke, Cartwright, and Bowmanville (town); also Victoria County (south), which includes Ops, Lindsay (town), Mariposa, Emily, Verulam, Omemee (village), and Bobcaygeon (village); also Victoria County (north), which includes Eldon, Fenelon, Fenelon Falls (village), Carden, Dalton, Bexley, Somerville, Digby, Laxton, Longford, Lutterworth, Hindon, and Anson; also Muskoka, which includes Morrison, Gravenhurst (village), Muskoka, Wood, Medora, Monk, Cardwell, Watt, Conger, Humphrey, Oakley, Ryde, Draper, Bracebridge (village), Macauly, Brunel, Stephenson, Ridout, McLean, Sinclair, Franklin, Proudfoot, Chaffey, Bethune, Perry, McDougall, Cowper, and Foley.

These census consists of microfilm copies of the Library and Archives Canada decennial and nominal census for Northumberland and Durham Counties from 1851, 1861 and 1871.

The 15 microfilm reels from the Department of Lands and Forests holdings contain field survey notes for most townships in southern Ontario dating from 1784 to 1945. The handwritten guide to the survey notes was prepared by students in a geography course at Trent University. This guide is available in the Reading Room.

The microfilms were produced by the Archives of Ontario from records in possession of the Clerk of the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham dating from 1849 to 1870. This collection includes the rolls of the towns, villages and townships of the United Counties arranged in alphabetical order as follows: Alnwick, Bowmanville town, Brighton, Brighton village, Cartwright, Cavan, Clarke, Cobourg town, Colbourne Village, Cramahe, Darlington, Haldimand, Hamilton, Hope, Manvers, Monaghan South, Murray, Newcastle village, Percy, Port Hope town, and Seymour.

The microfilms are copies of assessment and census rolls, 1803-1850, voter's lists, 1854, and poll books, 1816, 1820, 1824 for the Newcastle District. Area covered includes various townships in the present-day counties of Peterborough, Northumberland, Durham and Victoria. The townships of Hamilton and Haldimand were not filmed.