The significance of a ‘correct and uniform system of accounts’ to the administration of the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834

Abstract

Accounting under the new Poor Law represents a significant landmark in the history of government accounting that has hitherto attracted little attention or comment. Charge and discharge accounting is rooted in feudal relationships and persisted well into the nineteenth century in the parishes and municipal corporations of England and Wales, especially in rural areas. In contrast, double-entry bookkeeping (DEB) in central government accounting, became a signature of the modern bureaucratic organisation. This paper argues that these radical differences were nowhere more apparent than in the new administrative apparatus created by the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. Evidence is drawn from national and local archives to document the design of an elaborate accounting system through which the central agency of the Poor Law Commission operated. It was not only the design of the accounting system that was significant but also its implementation. The paper draws on archival material to demonstrate the role of change agents and mimetic processes in institutionalising the new accounting practice. It reveals that in the unions studied there was an impressive uniformity and conformity of local practice in deference to the statutory authority of the Poor Law Commission.

Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief: Accounting and the stigma of poverty

“…By using this theoretical lens, our analysis contributes to accounting literature by offering a complementary way to understand the role of accounting in structuring poverty. Several existing papers have looked at how accounting constructs the poor as a distinct, excluded and stigmatized category (Bisman, 2012;Care, 2011;Jackson, 2012;Jeacle, 2016;Killian, 2015;Ó hÓgartaigh et al, 2012;O'Regan, 2010;Oakes & Young, 2008;Walker, 2008). The present paper suggests, that in addition to stigmatization and exclusion, accounting serves as a relational nodal between the poor and wealthy donors.…”

“…Walker (2008), through his examination of the Poor Law and the regulation of workhouses and outdoor relief programs in 19 th century England and Wales, showed how accounting practices led to the construction of the spoiled identity of the pauper, reinforcing the stigmatization of poverty. Walker's paper has stimulated considerable research on how accounting shapes the regulation of poverty by the state (Care, 2011;Jeacle, 2016;Ó hÓgartaigh, Ó hÓgartaigh, & Tyson, 2012). Other accounting researchers dealing with poverty have examined the securitization of the homeless for social impact investors (Cooper, Graham, & Himick, 2016), the financialization of convivial labour relations amongst poor Sri Lankan villagers through microfinance (Alawattage, Graham, & Wickramasinghe, 2018), the taxation of subsistence income (Treisch, 2005), the stigma and poverty of Indigenous peoples (Miley & Read, 2018), the use of accounting during periods of famine (O'Regan, 2010) and the impact this had on social policy (Bisman, 2012).…”

Accounting and the history of the everyday life of captains, sailors and common seamen in eighteenth-century Portuguese slave trading

“…2 Among these, the role of accounting in facilitating the horrors perpetrated by the Holocaust/Nazism stands out for its pioneering character and compelling illustrations, with the seminal study by Funnell (1998) followed by other enlightening contributions, including Lippman (2009), Lippman and Wilson (2007) and Walker (2000). Other themes featuring in ‘dark side’ studies include the Irish Famine (Funnell, 2001; O’Regan, 2010), the Highland Clearances (Walker, 2003a), poverty (Care, 2011; Holden et al, 2009; O’Hogartaigh et al, 2012; Servalli, 2013; Walker, 2004, 2008), war and financial reporting (Chwastiak, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2008; Chwastiak and Lehman, 2008; Chwastiak and Young, 2003; Cooper and Catchpowle, 2009), indigenous dispossession (Gibson, 2000; Greer, 2009; Hooper and Kearins, 2008; Neu, 2000a, 2000b; Neu and Graham, 2004; Neu and Heincke, 2004), indentured labour (Irvine, 2004; Tyson and Davie, 2009), accounting for imperialism/accounting and empire (Annisette and Neu, 2004; Bakre, 2008; Davie, 2000, 2005a), race and ethnicity (Annisette, 2003; Davie, 2005b; Hammond and Streeter, 2013; Kim, 2004a; Poullaos, 2009; Sidhu and West, 2014), gender (Kim, 2004b; Kirkham and Loft, 2013; Lehman, 2012) and class (Walker, 2002). Despite their diversity, these studies all evidence that, far from being a neutral technology, accounting has long played an active role in dehumanising, exploiting and degrading human beings.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2011

“…Their main aim is to explore how different factors within the two systems impacted on the development of accounting and on those who performed accounting functions. Care also examines accounting procedures in a period of change. Her focus is accounting under the new poor law, the introduction of which, she shows, marked the design of an elaborate central accounting through the agency of the Poor Law Commission.…”