This collection includes 1168 textual items, plus 235 images collected by Judge George Alley and Henry Smith pertaining largely to the early history of Prince Edward Island. A large proportion of the collection deals with the history of Charlottetown and the colony of Prince Edward Island during its early years of settlement. The collection is divided into 25 series, based on the arrangement that was imposed by the donor, and possibly earlier arrangement prior to donation to the Public Archives and Records Office. Arrangement was based on provenance, subject or contents or type of document. Series order has been rearranged to reflect government documents, family papers and miscellaneous. Many of the series include government records such as bills, acts, proclamations and petitions, Journals of the House of Assembly and Legislative Council, minutes of Council and claims, proposals and reports to the government. The collection includes several series of records pertaining to a number of families and individuals including: George Alley and the Alley family, Fanning family, Wright family, Bagnall family, Isaac Smith, James Bardin Palmer, and Edward Palmer. The collection includes lantern slides, photographs, textual materials and plans. The subject of the photographs is early Charlottetown, and its residents. Photographs include streetscapes, public buildings and private residences, and portraits of city officials and clergymen. The collection also includes records pertaining to the following subjects: inns, taverns, bridges, ferries, Loyalists, schools and education, the Land Question, military, agriculture, the administration of justice, postal service, land records, Charlottetown Market House, Court House, and Province House. A number of the documents in this collection are copies of original documents, many copied at the request of Judge George Alley in pursuit of his interest in writing a history of Prince Edward Island.