The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has created an Accounting History Gateway. The gateway was developed
as an easy access point to historical materials available from, or about, the Institute. One of these historical documents is the Accountants’ Directory for 1877 compiled by Alfred Harper and published by Williams & Strahan. The directory provides a snapshot of the membership of the first professional bodies for accountancy. Professional bodies were established in Edinburgh and Glasgow (1853) and Aberdeen (1866). These were followed by the Incorporated Society of Liverpool Accountants (1870), the Institute of Accountants (1870), Manchester Institute of Accountants (1871) and the Society of Accountants (1872). Another society was established in Sheffield during 1877, but this falls after the compilation date for this edition of the directory.
