These arise from actions heard in the Companies Court of the High Court of Justice under the Companies (Winding Up) Act 1890 and subsequent legislation. The files include copies of summonses, affidavits of various kinds, court orders, petitions, judges' notes, schemes of arrangement for companies, papers concerning the appointment and retirement of liquidators and receivers, certificates of taxation, etc. From 1972 the proceedings also include debenture actions.

Most of the documents are purely formal, but some sets of affidavits give substantial information about a variety of matters, eg J 13/8272 gives details about woodlands and the timber trade, the use of timber in coal mining, and the difficulty of obtaining timber supplies during the First World war, over a wide area.