Personal account books of Sir Walter Scott

This study examines the personal account books of Sir Walter Scott, the world-renowned Scottish author, a topic not explored before by Scott scholars or accounting historians. It sets the account books in the context of Scott\u27s accounting education and experience, which took place at the time of the Scottish Enlightenment, an 18th century movement which saw a great flowering of writings on accountancy in Scotland as well as considerable progress in the arts and sciences. The style, layout and content of the account books is also studied from the point of view of elucidating Scott\u27s domestic financial arrangements and expenditure patterns. These are seen as confirming the insights of Vickery [1998], who posits a liberated role for women such as Mrs Scott in genteel\u27 households, which Scott\u27s undoubtedly was. The study also establishes that Scott\u27s personal expenditures, and indeed his accounting practices, otherwise conformed to the general patriarchal pattern identified by Davidoff and Hall [1987]. The final part of the article uses what has been discovered about Scott\u27s personal accounting to revisit the question of his financial imprudence (or otherwise) in business. It concludes that Scott\u27s risk-taking in business was not unreasonable, and was informed by his bookkeeping knowledge and practices

In memoriam, a Scottish Eulogy: David A.R. Forrester (1928-2009); American Memorial to David A.R. Forrester;

David Alexander Roxburgh Forrester passed away on April 21, 2009, at age 81. Forrester, a Scotsman, was an honorary life member of the Academy of Accounting Historians and a winner of the Academy\u27s Hourglass Award in 1978 for his book entitled Schmalenbach and After: A Study of the Evolution of German Business Economics

The life and work of Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, 1834-1921

Sir Robert Rowand Anderson was the dominant figure in Scottish architecture during and beyond the late Victorian period. Although his oeuvre is for the most part well known, and notwithstanding the fact that the historical drawings from his office were made available for study in 1979, his life and work have not hitherto bean investigated in depth. The purpose of the thesis which follows is to make good this deficiency. While the absence of family papers has posed problems ever since Anderson's death, (evident from the biographical errors in his obituaries), a large number of primary sources were discovered in the course of research. These included Anderson's scrapbook, notebooks and a diary, correspondence relating to his earlier commissions, and numerous letters in public and private collections. In the last few years, several short but helpful publications on specific aspects of his work have also appeared. Drawing on this material, the thesis presents a chronological account of Anderson's career dealing, in Chapter One, with his hitherto uninvestigated early life and training. Chapter Two seta the scene for the evolution of his theoretical position, not previously examined. Chapters Three and Four deal with the expansion of his practice and his rise to eminence, while Chapters Five, Six and Seven cover his activities at the height of his fame, such as his restorations, and his committee and educational work. The Appendices include Obituaries and notes on the sources of his architectural theory, as well as a list of works and a quantification of his influence. The thesis makes it clear that the popular view of Anderson as a highly professional and gifted manipulator of historical styles is inadequate: he was a thoroughgoing functionalist. It also draws attention to the great influence he exerted on the generation immediately following, not only through his conservative restoration and the high quality of his design, but also by actively fostering a Scottish tradition in architecture and its associated crafts

Organizational improvisation, architectural "piggybacking," and masonic networking in the International Settlement, Shanghai:building an Anglican cathedral, 1864-1869

This study provides a business history of the construction project to build a large Anglican church in colonial Shanghai in the 1860s. Employing three theoretical lenses, it focusses on the project’s management, setting it in its social, political, economic and architectural contexts. As well as analysing the project’s progress in detail, the paper discloses circumstances that were being faced more generally by resident British and international traders in Shanghai at this unsettled time. It also identifies forces which would in due course influence the long process of change leading to the eventual transformation both of Shanghai and of China itself, enhancing our understanding of the region’s economic history

Comprehending the relationship between a company and its accountants, 1894–1967: Evaluating and accommodating Foucauldian and other perspectives

This article analyses the relationship between a Scottish manufacturing company and the accountancy firm which provided it with professional services across its existence (1894–1967). It examines the professional roles fulfilled by the accountants, the work done and the fee income derived from it, in the context of the company’s history. It emphasises the importance of the services provided by accountancy firms for unlisted companies in understanding the development of professional accountancy in the United Kingdom. The material presented is used to test three different explanations of the UK accountancy profession’s rise which relate to the auditing function and has implications for historical methodology and epistemologies. The explanations explored may be categorised as economic rationalist, Foucauldian and jurisdictional points of view

The introduction and operation of standard costing at J&P Coats Ltd., 1925-1961: an institutional interpretation

This study provides a history of the introduction and implementation of standard costing at JandP Coats Ltd, the British-based multinational thread manufacturers, between 1925 and 1961. By 1896, the firm had centralised sales and marketing, strategic and treasury management in its head office in Glasgow. The introduction of standard costing was intended to bring financial discipline within each of its home and overseas mills, to add to the central discipline and control which already existed across the company, as well as to facilitate some aspects of central accounting in Glasgow. The study ends in 1961, the year the company merged with Patons and Baldwins, another UK-based textile firm. As a theoretical lens, our history uses institutional theory, as it affects an understanding of the implementation and operation of new management accounting systems. In particular, we explore the concept that the development and use of new accounting systems may well be conditioned by both external and internal ‘institutions’, or ‘ways of doing things’. The Coats study responds to the call for longitudinal analyses of management accounting innovation from an institutional point of view. It shows how institutional factors affected the implementation and use of standard costing within the firm, operating through human actors and changing organisational structures. In addition, the study adds to what is known about the history and chronology of the development of standard costing in the UK, pointing out similarities and differences between what happened at Coats and other adopters. It underscores that what is known about the installation and usage of costing systems would benefit from an understanding of the institutional factors involved

Comprehending the relationship between a company and its accountants, 1894-1967: Evaluating and accommodating Foucauldian and other perspectives

This article analyses the relationship between a Scottish manufacturing company and the accountancy firm which provided it with professional services across its existence (1894–1967). It examines the professional roles fulfilled by the accountants, the work done and the fee income derived from it, in the context of the company’s history. It emphasises the importance of the services provided by accountancy firms for unlisted companies in understanding the development of professional accountancy in the United Kingdom. The material presented is used to test three different explanations of the UK accountancy profession’s rise which relate to the auditing function and has implications for historical methodology and epistemologies. The explanations explored may be categorised as economic rationalist, Foucauldian and jurisdictional points of view

Cohort profile: The Scottish Research Register SHARE. A register of people interested in research participation linked to NHS datasets

SHARE is a NHS Scotland Research (NRS) infrastructure initiative and is funded by the Chief Scientists Office of the Scottish Government. Additional funding and initiation of the spare blood retention in Tayside was supported by The Wellcome Trust Biomedical Resource Award Number 099177/Z/12/Z.Purpose: Recruitment to trials is often difficult. Many trials fail to meet recruitment targets resulting in underpowered studies which waste resources and the time of those who participated. While there is evidence that many people are willing to take part in research, particularly if it involves a condition from which they suffer, researchers are unable to easily contact such people often relying on busy clinicians to identify them. Many clinicians perceive themselves as too busy to take part in research activities. The Scottish Health Research Register SHARE adopts an approach which asks the public to consent to their data held in National Health Service databases to be used to determine their suitability for research projects. Additionally, participants can consent for spare blood, left after routine venepuncture to be automatically identified in the laboratory and stored for future research studies. Participants: Anyone over the age of 16 years in Scotland can participate. Participants are approached through a range of methods including directly at outpatient clinics and general practitioners practices, leaflets with hospital letters and personal email from employers. Findings to date: SHARE has recruited around 130 000 people. SHARE has demonstrated that it can quickly and efficiently recruit to studies, over 20 until now. In addition, it can be used to administer questionnaire studies by email and recruit to patient and public involvement groups. Future plans: SHARE continues to steadily recruit with the ambition of eventually achieving 1 000 000 people in Scotland. We are steadily increasing the number of data sets we use for identifying participants. We are adding a mobile app which will facilitate dissemination about research and allow the collection of physiological and activity data if desired. We anticipate that SHARE will soon become the main source of health research recruitment in Scotland.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Risk factors for chronic ulceration in patients with varicose veins: A case control study

Background/ObjectiveIdentifying which patients with varicose veins are at risk of progressing to more severe forms of chronic venous disease could help in assigning clinical priorities and targeting appropriate treatments. The aim of this study was to determine, in subjects with varicose veins, the characteristics of venous disease and other factors associated with an increased risk of ulceration.MethodsOne hundred twenty subjects with varicose veins and an open or healed venous leg ulcer were compared with 120 controls with varicose veins and no history of venous ulcer on this case control study. Subjects were recruited from hospital settings and primary care. Each subject completed a questionnaire on lifestyle and medical history and underwent an examination comprising of clinical classification of venous disease (CEAP), duplex scanning, quantitative digital photoplethysmography, and measurement of dorsiflexion. Multiple logistic regression analyses and calculation of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed to identify the combination of factors which most accurately predicted which patients with varicose veins will develop leg ulcers.ResultsAn increased risk of ulceration was associated with the severity of clinical venous disease, especially with the presence of skin changes (P < .0001). Other significant risk factors included history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) (P = .001), higher body mass index (BMI) (P = .006), smoking (P = .009), and reflux in the deep veins (P = .0001). Ulceration was associated with reduced volume of blood displaced as reflected by photoplethysmography and a limited range of ankle movement (not wholly due to the effects of an active ulcer) (both P < .05). Multivariate analyses showed that skin changes including lipodermatosclerosis (odds ratio [OR] 8.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-54.8), corona phlebectatica (OR 4.52, 95% CI 1.81-11.3) and eczema (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.12-7.07), higher BMI (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01-1.15), and popliteal vein reflux (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.03-7.75) remained independently associated with increased risk of ulceration while good dorsiflexion of the ankle (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.81-0.97) and an effective calf muscle pump (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92-0.99) remained protective factors. ROC curve analyses indicated that a model based on clinical observation of skin changes, duplex scanning for popliteal reflux, and calf muscle pump tests would be the most accurate in determining which patients with varicose veins develop leg ulcers.ConclusionsThe results of this study confirm that, in patients with varicose veins, those with skin changes of chronic venous insufficiency and deep vein incompetence are at greatly increased risk of ulceration. However, the risks may also be increased in those who smoke, are obese, and have restricted ankle movement and reduced calf muscle pump power