The collection includes letters from Arnold Paice to his mother, father and sister Muriel Paice, and the description of a journey from Durban to Nairobi. It also preserves his correspondence with the Royal Commonwealth Society regarding their donation.

Paice’s time in Kenya coincided with almost the entire era of white settlement, and his papers form one of the richest documents of an ordinary settler's experience. His letters to his mother, written over an extended period of time, were often highly detailed accounts describing the running of his 3,000 acre farm and the other work he undertook to supplement his income. Paice was closely involved in Nanyuki affairs. From the mid-1920s, he served as Justice of the Peace and Attesting Officer for labour tenancy contracts, and these responsibilities often involved contact with African peoples. Paice’s letters also provide an important portrait of wider colonial society.