Writing master and accountant: an exercise in professional identification

Edwards, John Richard 2009. Writing master and accountant: an exercise in professional identification. [Working Paper]. Working Papers in Accounting and Finance, Cardiff: Cardiff University.

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Abstract

There has been significant focus in accounting historiography on the use of occupational labels for the purpose of group identification and profe ssional trajectory in nineteenth and twentieth century Britain. The writing master was active from medieval times as the authority on calligraphic representation, while the writing master and accountant emerged as a specialist pedagogue providing the expert business knowledge required in the counting houses of business concerns that flourished during the rapid commercial expansion which took place in mercantilist Britain. Writing masters and accountants pursued occupational trajectory by developing a desirable social identity based on a range of strategies that included aligning the services they provided with national interest and projecting an image of the gentlemanly professional. The ir demise as an occupational group may be attributed to factors that include internecine conflict, the increasing homogeneity of the written word and the likely pursuit by accountants of more remunerative engagements.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5601 Accounting H Social Sciences > HG Finance
Publisher:	Cardiff University
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	05 Oct 2015 13:16
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/77695

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