A wide range of accounts and other papers relating to Jardine, Matheson and Co., companies it owned or managed, and extraneous institutions.

Much of the series is concerned with maritime trading, relating primarily to the consignment of goods, notably opium, and the range of expenses incurred by their transportation. Many of the volumes are undifferentiated by creator. However, there are some records relating to particular companies and traders. These include Robert Taylor (1-6), who imported Bengal opium from Calcutta in partnership with James Matheson; Francis Xavier de Yrisarri and James Matheson of Yrisarri and Co., Canton (7-15); and the Americans Joseph Coolidge and James Ryan (16-27), who operated in Canton for Jardine Matheson from 1839, and co-founded the firm Augustine Heard and Co. in 1840. There is a large set of records relating specifically to Augustine Heard and Co. (622-659), and a further set connected to the firm Thomas Hunt and Co. (660-702).

A7 includes a large volume of marine insurance records (422-509), relating to the underwriting account started by William Jardine in 1829 as 'Jardine Matheson and friends', and to the various companies which employed the firm as their Canton agent. There are also significant records for two insurance companies which came under the general management of Jardine Matheson: the Canton Insurance Office Ltd (454-509) and the Hongkong Fire Insurance Co. Ltd (510-527). Other papers in the series relate to industry (550-553, 555-584 and 737-738), navigation companies (528-549) and steamboat companies (703-705). The rest of the series is comprised of a wide range of miscellaneous material.

Most of the records are in English, but there are some documents in Chinese, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Urdu.

A7 can be divided very roughly into the following sub-series:

1-6. Robert Taylor and James Matheson, 1819-1821.

7-15. Yrisarri and Co., Canton, 1821-1828.

16-27. Joseph Coolidge and James Ryan, 1841-1844.

28-51. General waste or memoranda books, 1806-1843.

52-83. Opium books, 1824-1857.

84-89. Import and export books, 1827-1834.

90-135. Records of ships' cargoes, 1821-1897.

136-145. Purchases and sales, 1832-1871.

146-161. Order books, 1823-1884.

162-166. Letters, 1861-1888.

167-179. Invoices, 1845-1888.

180-191. Stock books, 1841-1928.

192-195. Delivery books, 1875-1897.

196-201. Market reports and quotations, 1870-1889.

202. Shipping arrivals and departures, 1836-1872.

203-209. Ships' logs, 1841-1893.

210. Ships' stores, 1840-1841.

211-213. Bills of lading, 1842-1884.

214-220*. Letters, reports and related papers, 1829-1905.

221-224. Post books, 1869-1884.

225-230. Telegraph codes, 1875-1891.

231-244. Diaries and notebooks, 1832-1880.

245. Staff contracts book, c. 1872-c. 1875.

246-258. House or factory expenses and stocks, 1802-1875.

259-282. Registers of bills, 1829-1887.

283-291. Freight books, 1838-1889.

292-301. Summary accounts of imports and exports, 1867-1885.

302-317. Daily balance accounts, 1870-1892.

318-418. Miscellaneous accounting records, 1830-1925.

419-421. Stocks and shares, 1881-c. 1905.

422-444. Registers of marine insurance policies, 1816-1869.

445-453. Miscellaneous marine insurance records, 1848-1905.

454-509. Canton Insurance Office Ltd, 1836-1907.

510-527. Hongkong Fire Insurance Co. Ltd, 1869-1889.

528. North China Steamer Co., 1868-1869.

529-540. China Coast Steam Navigation Co., 1873-1883.

541-543. Yangtze Steam Navigation Co., Shanghai, 1879-1882.

544-549. Indo-China Steam Navigation Co. Ltd, 1882-1903.

550-552. Takasima Colliery, Japan, c. 1876-1881

553-553*. Ewo Steam Silk Filature, Shanghai, 1881-1895.

554. Jardine, Matheson and Co.'s piers and godowns, 1883.

555-582. China Sugar Refining Co. Ltd, Hong Kong, 1874-1927.

583-584. Hong Kong Distillery, 1880-1887.

585-599. 'Hong Kong Times'/'Daily Advertiser', 1873-1876.

600. Shanghai Hongkew Wharf Co., c. 1871-c. 1899.

601. Hong Kong Club, 1845

602-603. Hong Kong Race Club, 1846-1852.

604-605. Sailors' Home, Hong Kong, mid-19th century.

606-607. Company reports and balance sheets, 1884-1893.

607*-611*. Hawaiian Consulate, 1874-1900.

612-618. Indexes to unidentified documents, c. 1824-1890.

619-621. Printed miscellanea, 1867-1899.

622-637. Augustine Heard and Co., Hong Kong and General, 1861-1875.

638-659. Augustine Heard and Co., Foochow, 1858-1875.

660-702. Thomas Hunt and Co., 1852-1876.

703. Hong Kong, Canton and Macao Steamboat Co. Ltd, 1868-1869.

704-705. China-Sea, Saigon and Straits Steamship Co. Ltd, 1870-1873

706-720. Ships' manifests and freight lists, 1858-1872.

721-727. Ships' debit notes, 1865-1869.

728-729. Ships' requisitions and disbursements, 1865-1872.

730-731. Ships' surveys, 1865-1869.

732-733. Union Dock Company of Hong Kong and Whampoa, 1865-1867.

734-736. Wanchai Steam Bakery Company, 1863-1912.

737-738. Hongkong Ice Company, 1883-1884.

739-. Miscellaneous, including profit and loss accounts.