Oral history, accounting history and an interview with Sir John Grenside

This article arises out of a programme of oral history funded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). It discusses the issues involved in setting up and carrying through the programme and the advantages and disadvantages of the technique particularly with regard to accounting history. It uses as an example an interview with one of the leaders of the accountancy profession in the period since the Second World War - Sir John Grenside. Grenside discusses his training and the changes he saw and helped bring about as senior partner in his firm, Peat Marwick Mitchell. Grenside was also one of the leading lights in the ICAEW in the 1970s and early 1980s and was the architect of the Joint Disciplinary Scheme on which he gives his views as well as on the recent troubles of the profession.