The volume contains papers connected with the progress of the Bill through Parliament during the 1884 Session. It contains annotated copies of the proposed Bill, and subsequent Act. It also includes Minutes of Proceedings before the Select Committee of the House of Lords (17–21 March 1884) and the House of Commons Select Committee on Private Bills (26–30 June 1884).

The following petitions against the Bill have also been included from: the Humber Conservancy Commissioners; Hull Trinity House; Hull Corporation; York Corporation; the Corporation of the Level of Hatfield Chase; the Hull Dock Company; the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway; the North Eastern Railway; the Society and Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York; Philip Saltmarshe and Others; and Landowners, Merchants, Traders, Manufacturers, and Craftsmen etc.

The volume includes extracts from the journals of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which outline the progress of the Bill through the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament.