Amos William (Will) Mayse was born in Lincolnshire, England in March, 1880. Mayse served in South Africa with the York and Lancaster Regiment Imperial Forces, where he was twice wounded and discharged with the rank of corporal. He later emigrated to Canada and was a Baptist clergyman in Manitoba before he enlisted in January, 1916 in Emerson, Manitoba. Mayse served overseas in France and Belgium until the end of the war. Mayse later settled in Nanaimo, British Columbia where he continued his work as a clergyman. The collection consists of more than two hundred letters, as well as other personal items.