ABSTRACT
A small number of individuals managed to make a living out of accounting during the eighteenth century. One such man was William Cuthbertson, who began to practice in Glasgow and has been described as the originator of the accountancy profession in that city (Stewart, p.74). On the whole accountants remained thin on the ground. The directories give the following figures: London, 1 in 1776 and 5 in 1790; Liverpool, 1 in 1783 and 5 in 1790; Bristol, 2 in both 1783 and 1808. Scotland did rather better, perhaps reflecting more harmonious links with the legal profession in that country; the Edinburgh directories list 7 accountants in 1773 and 17 in 1805, and a Glasgow directory 6 in 1783.
