Agency reversal and the steward’s lot when discharge exceeds charge: English archival evidence, 1739-1890

Abstract

This study examines the charge—discharge accounting system of a Yorkshire landowning charitable trust during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One unusual feature of the accounts is that, on many occasions, the Trust appeared to be indebted to its bailiff for long periods of time. The article draws on previous work on such credit balances to explore possible explanations for this apparent reversal of the normal principal—agent position. It confirms the proposition that a credit balance on the accounts represented amounts owed to the bailiff/steward, rather than inclusion of other creditors’ balances. However, the cash-based charge—discharge accounting system was utilized to maintain the record of any ongoing indebtedness of the Trust to the bailiff. The question of how and why such credit balances were sustained by the bailiff is examined, and the conclusion reached that, in this case, the explanation may well rest in the financial status of the bailiff/steward.

Welfare or politics? The identity of Italian mutual aid societies as revealed by a latent class cluster analysis of their annual reports

“…In terms of contributions to international accounting research, this study addresses and intersects two topics of great interest in the recent literature on the subject of accounting history: accounting and charities or similar not-for-profit organizations on one side and accounting and political issues on the other. Some studies have recently addressed the issue of charities/not-for-profit organizations (Baker and Eadsforth, 2011; Baños et al, 2013; Cordery, 2012; Cordery and Baskerville, 2007; Jackson, 2012; Servalli, 2013) and this article adds to the sparse literature on this topic in non-Anglo-Saxon countries.…”

Chapter 3 Managing the estate

“…18 That the accounts were organised in this way is perhaps not surprising given that it was her brother James Sharp -the owner of an iron manufactory in London -who set up her accounts and that traders were, according to accounting historians like John Richard Edwards, more likely to use double-entry bookkeeping than landowners and stewards. 19 Prowse also audited the accounts kept by the estate steward, housekeeper and cook, copying the entries from their cash books into her own ledger and again cross-referencing the items against the entries in the general, cottage and estate accounts. 20 Rather than being professional land agents employed by a London firm, Prowse's stewards were local men who lived either in rooms above the stables or on one of the estate farms.…”