Accountancy on the periphery: the profession in Exeter to 1939

This paper presents an historical case study of the accountancy profession in the English cathedral city and county town of Exeter. Inter alia, it examines the idea that the formation of professional accountancy bodies served not only to enhance the collective economic status and social mobility of their members but also, in the case of a city like Exeter located on the periphery of the UK, to enhance their geographical mobility. The emphases of the paper are on the growth in the numbers of accountants, migration of accountants (both within the UK and overseas), and the overlapping 'jurisdictions' of accountants with other professions. Exeter's experience is compared and contrasted with that of the UK as a whole and suggestions are made for further research. The paper includes data on professional accountants qualifying in and/or working in Exeter from the late 1870s to the outbreak of the World War II in 1939.