Contains almost 1400 letters, principally sent from Nora Barlow to her mother Ida Darwin, between 1894 and 1946. Includes a handful of letters from Horace, Erasmus and Ruth Darwin to Ida enclosed with letters from Nora, and very occasionally, letters sent from third parties to Nora and forwarded to Ida for interest.
The letters contain news of Nora's children and in particular their health, school and social activities; accounts of holidays, weekends away and house parties; occasional commentary on Nora's work and charitable commitments and on the work of her husband; discussion of arrangements for meeting up with Ida; reflections on national and world events; and descriptions of plants discovered and gardening activities.