2004 marked the 150th anniversary of the foundation of institutionalised public accountancy in the English-speaking world. The mid nineteenth century founders were public accountants practicing in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Their historical legacy is a respected profession world-wide that offers a complex range of public accountancy and other services to industry, commerce, and government. This book celebrates this legacy in biographies of 138 accountants involved in the creation of three professional bodies that combined to form the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) in 1951. The biographies are presented within a historical context of Scotland at the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria and reveal the economic and social class structure that characterised Victorian times. Many of the founders were members of families that profoundly influenced Scottish history in a variety of ways. Others had more humble origins. The biographies therefore attempt to capture not only the background of the founders but also their achievements in terms of careers, families, and friends. The book should be of interest to public accountants wishing to understand the historical foundations on which their profession is based. It is also relevant to social historians studying the impact of emerging professions on the economic, political, and social landscape of nineteenth century Scotland particularly and Britain more widely.

Volume editor: Thomas A. Lee