The fonds consists of records documenting activities of Robert Mayhew and family, including subject files relating to Mayhew's career as Canadian Ambassador to Japan and as Minister of Fisheries, records of Grace Logan Mayhew, including diaries and notebooks on Japanese arts and crafts kept by Mrs. Mayhew on sojourns in Rome and Japan and material relating to her funeral in 1967; photographs of visits of Japanese dignitaries and the British royal family, as well as portraits of Canadian prime ministers; certificates of Mayhew's honorary Doctor of Laws degree, Freeman of Oak Bay and Victoria, and appointment of Mayhew as Minister of Fisheries and as Ambassador to Japan.