First female chartered accountant - Mary Harris Smith

Smith was born in 1844 in London. Her father, clerk to a navy agent and banker, recognised and encouraged her abilities and she studied mathematics with a master of Kings College School when she was sixteen. She attended bookkeeping classes set up by the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women and then worked as an accountant for a mercantile firm in London for a number of years. Following this she became accountant to the Royal School of Art Needlework. Her reputation led to requests from other organisations to audit their accounts.

In 1887 Mary Harris Smith set up her own accounting firm in Westminster. The same year she applied to join the Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors but was rejected on grounds of her gender. In 1891 she applied for admission to ICAEW but was also turned away. Repeated attempts to join were also unsuccessful.

During the First World War women successfully took on roles that had been the preserve of men and this led to a change in society’s attitudes. In 1918 the Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors changed their rules to allow the admission of women and, when she renewed her application Mary Harris Smith was made an Honorary Fellow (with an official admission date of 12 November 1919).

The passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act in 1919 made it illegal for ICAEW to continue to bar women from membership. Mary Harris Smith renewed her application to ICAEW the same year. In May 1920, at the age of 75, she was admitted as a fellow of ICAEW and became the first female chartered accountant.

Further reading

Mary Harris Smith: The first female Chartered Accountant - article on the East End Women's Museum website, September 2020

Portrait of Mary Harris Smith by Toby Wiggins - commissioned in 2020

Silverstone, R. 'How Mary Harris Smith led the way,' Accountancy, May 1980, Vol. 91 Issue 1041, pp.74-75, 2pp.

Walker, S.P. 'Professions and patriarchy revisited. Accountancy in England and Wales, 1887–1914,' Accounting History Review, July 2011, Vol.21 No.2, pp.185-225, 39pp.