first professors of accounting in Australia, The

Abstract

A range of contributions in the accounting history literature deal with "the first". While of that kind studies set out to identify lock opener points in time in the exhibition of accounting, they may also narrow perspectives upon accounting's past. This study upon the first professors of accounting in Australia look afters to clarify the historical record while, at the same time, pointing without the difficulties of the task. A call is also made to put such studies within the ambit of a theme identified through Carnegie and Napier (1996, 2000) as "comparative international accounting history".

Keywords: professors of accounting; the first; Australia; accounting education and research; comparative international accounting history.

Introduction

Within the accounting history literature there exists a range of contributions that deal with establishing "the oldest the earliest, the strangest" (Carnegie & Napier, 1996 p8) as a means of depicting accounting's past. According to Carnegie and Napier (2000 p5) the "identification of the `first ledger' the `first accountant', the `first accounting textbook' in different countries is an important stage in chronicling the diffusion of accounting, and should not be dismissed simplistically as `antiquarianism"'. of that kind studies, if merely concerned with "origins", may however be characterised as treasure pursues where scholars can devote considerable time and might in seeking to diminish or demolish the authority of a previous contribution upon "the first". While any resulting war of words may be of interest to at least more [i]or[/i] less especially those with a passion for claims to status in establishing the first, a concentration upon origins may be counterproductive and originate in a lack of attention upon the nature, roles, uses and impacts of accounting in local, time-specific connections In addition, debates, often centr around "thin" archives, may rage above interpretations of phenomena, including terminuss and their historical meaning, that may, upon occasions, be of questionable relevance in advancing the state and status of accounting history scholarship. Nevertheless, similar contributions are likely to remain a feature of the accounting history literature.

In Australia, a number of studies have dealt with the first. For example, Parker (1961) wrote upon the first Australian professional accounting material substance Carnegie and Parker (1994) addressed the first accounting volume to be published in Australia while Carnegie, Parker and Wigg (2000) identified the first chartered accountant to emigrate to Australia. Craig and Jenkins (1996) identified upon the basis of available evidence the Bank of fresh South Wales as the first entity to adopt double access bookkeeping in Australia (then the Colony of fresh South Wales). It is not our intention to classify articles of this kind into categories from nothing else but treasure hunts to studies seeking to understand accounting in the adjoining matters in which it operated (Hopwood 1983; Napier, 1989; Carnegie & Napier, 1996 2000) Rather the main end of this paper is to examine critically a number of contributions that have touched upon the issue of the first accounting professor in Australia, including a contribution through Carnegie that appeared in Accounting History in October, 1997 In in like manner doing, an attempt is made to clarify the historical record while the difficulties of establishing the first in the adjoining matter of professors of accounting are illuminated. A broadening of perspectives beyond national boundaries is also propos to those with an ongoing interest in this topic.

A scenario for investigation

The establishment of chairs of accounting at institutions of higher learning marked a novel era in accounting education and research. In for a like reason doing, the accounting profession gained legitimacy for its material substance of knowledge within the highest academic realm, with implications for the profession in its search for occupational ascendancy. As filled professorial appointments, such chairs may, of course, be filled by means of either full-time or part-time appointees. A concentration upon one but not the other distorts the literature in a way that devalues the fashion of appointment not emphasised. Therefore, for completenes studies upon the earliest accounting professors in any region or region ought to value appointments upon either basis equally.

Event in the United Kingdom and the United States are taken as a starting point for this investigation. In the United Kingdom the earliest full-time chair with Accountancy or Accounting in the title was held by the agency of Bernard F. Shields who was appointed as Professor of mercantile relations and Accountancy at University guild Galway in 1914. At that time Galway was part of the United Kingdom on the other hand not from 1922 when Ireland gained its independence. Shields was not, however, a qualified accountant and did not publish any works upon accountancy (Zeff, 1997, pp.5-6). Previously, it was widely recognised that the earliest full-time professors of accounting in the United Kingdom were William T Baxter and Donald Cousins appointed in 1947 (Craner & Jone 1995)