Accounting careers traversing the separate spheres of business and government in Victorian Britain

Abstract

This article studies the careers of Henry William Sharp Whiffin and James Charles Hurst who served as agents of accounting change in Victorian Britain. Whiffin and Hurst were civil servants who worked together, at the War Office, to improve the accounting and accountability of the military establishments that manufactured weaponry used by the army and the navy to expand Britain’s power and influence worldwide. It also explores their other workplace activities to add to our knowledge of how accountants traversed the separate spheres of business and government in the pursuit of successful careers as accountants.