IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v22y2009i4p525-552.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accounting and the moral economy of illness in Victorian England: the Newcastle Infirmary

Author

Listed:
  • Andy Holden
  • Warwick Funnell
  • David Oldroyd

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the Victorian attitude to the poor by focussing on the health care provided at a large provincial hospital, the Newcastle Infirmary. Design/methodology/approach - The archives of the Newcastle Infirmary are reviewed alongside the local trade directories. These primary sources are examined in conjunction with the writings of contemporary social theorists on poverty. Findings - At a time when poverty was seen as a sin, an act against God, it would be easy to assume that the Victorians faced no moral dilemma in dismissing the poor, particularly what were seen as the “undeserving poor”, out of hand. Yet, the paper observes how accounting was used both to persuade the wealthier citizens to contribute funds and to enable the hospital to exercise compassion in treating paupers despite this being prohibited under the hospital's rules. Such a policy conflicted with the dominant utilitarian view of society, which emphasised the twin pillars of economic expediency and self‐help. Research limitations/implications - More case studies are needed of other hospitals to ascertain how typical the Newcastle Infirmary was of the voluntary hospital sector as a whole. Originality/value - Although many histories of British hospitals exist and some have examined how accounting was used to manage within these institutions, the concern has not been with accounting as a moral practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Andy Holden & Warwick Funnell & David Oldroyd, 2009. "Accounting and the moral economy of illness in Victorian England: the Newcastle Infirmary," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 525-552, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:22:y:2009:i:4:p:525-552
    DOI: 10.1108/09513570910955434
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513570910955434/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513570910955434/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/09513570910955434?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neil Robson, 2003. "From voluntary to state control and the emergence of the department in UK hospital accounting," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 99-123.
    2. Levine, David & Wrightson, Keith, 1991. "The Making of an Industrial Society: Whickham 1560-1765," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198200666.
    3. Maltby, Josephine, 1997. "Accounting and the soul of the middle class: Gustav Freytag's Soll und Haben," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 69-87, January.
    4. Walker, Stephen P., 2004. "Expense, social and moral control. Accounting and the administration of the old poor law in England and Wales," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 85-127.
    5. Walker, S. P., 1998. "How to secure your husband's esteem. Accounting and private patriarchy in the British middle class household during the nineteenth century," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 485-514.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Funnell, Warwick & Antonelli, Valerio & D'Alessio, Raffaele, 2019. "Accounting and psychiatric power in Italy: The royal insane hospital of Turin in the 19th century," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-21.
    2. Parker, Lee D., 2014. "Corporate social accountability through action: Contemporary insights from British industrial pioneers," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 632-659.
    3. Florian Gebreiter & William J Jackson, 2015. "Fertile ground: the history of accounting in hospitals," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 177-182, September.
    4. Bigoni, Michele & Antonelli, Valerio & Cafaro, Emanuela Mattia & D'Alessio, Raffaele & Funnell, Warwick, 2020. "Accounting for the ‘deviant’ in 19th century Italian prisons," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Gebreiter, Florian, 2016. "“Comparing the incomparable”: Hospital costing and the art of medicine in post-war Britain," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 257-268.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steve Evans & Kerry Jacobs, 2010. "Accounting: an un‐Australian activity?," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(3), pages 378-394, August.
    2. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    3. Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2009. "Order and accounting as a performative ritual: Evidence from ancient Egypt," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 348-380, April.
    4. Garry D. Carnegie & Christopher J. Napier, 2012. "Accounting's past, present and future: the unifying power of history," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 328-369, February.
    5. Alessandro Lai & Delfina Gomes, 2018. "Accounting in different cultures and from different perspectives," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2), pages 7-12.
    6. Dambrin, Claire & Lambert, Caroline, 2012. "Who is she and who are we? A reflexive journey in research into the rarity of women in the highest ranks of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-16.
    7. Peter M. Solar, 1995. "Poor relief and English economic development before the industrial revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 48(1), pages 1-22, February.
    8. O'Regan, Philip, 2010. "'A dense mass of petty accountability': Accounting in the service of cultural imperialism during the Irish Famine, 1846-1847," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 416-430, May.
    9. Lisa Evans & Ian Fraser, 2010. "A Commentary on 'A Role for the Compulsory Study of Literature in Accounting Education'," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 351-354.
    10. Nikidehaghani, Mona & Cortese, Corinne & Hui-Truscott, Freda, 2021. "Accounting and pastoral power in Australian disability welfare reform," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. Tom Arkell, 2006. "Illuminations and distortions: Gregory King's Scheme calculated for the year 1688 and the social structure of later Stuart England," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 59(1), pages 32-69, February.
    12. Sebastian A.J. Keibek, 2016. "By-Employments In Early Modern England And Their Significance For Estimating Historical Male Occupational Structures," Working Papers 29, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge, revised 21 Mar 2017.
    13. Stephen Walker, 2002. "'Men of small standing'? Locating accountants in English society during the mid-nineteenth century," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 377-399.
    14. Stone, Dan N., 2001. "Accountant's tales," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 461-470.
    15. Phillip Cobbin & Graeme Dean & Cameron Esslemont & Patrick Ferguson & Monica Keneley & Brad Potter & Brian West, 2013. "Enhancing the Accessibility of Accounting and Business Archives: The Role of Technology in Informing Research in Accounting and Business," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 49(3), pages 396-422, September.
    16. Murphy, Tim & O’Connell, Vincent & Ó hÓgartaigh, Ciarán, 2013. "Discourses surrounding the evolution of the IASB/FASB Conceptual Framework: What they reveal about the “living law” of accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 72-91.
    17. Walker, Stephen P., 2003. "Professionalisation or incarceration? Household engineering, accounting and the domestic ideal," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(7-8), pages 743-772.
    18. Mahmoud Ezzamel, 2005. "Accounting for the activities of funerary temples: the intertwining of the sacred and the profane," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 29-51.
    19. repec:eme:aaajpp:v:21:y:2008:i:4:p:507-538 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Manzurul Alam & Zahirul Hoque, 2021. "Boundary management and accounting visibility in social services: a case study," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5377-5401, December.
    21. Carnegie, Garry D. & Napier, Christopher J., 2010. "Traditional accountants and business professionals: Portraying the accounting profession after Enron," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 360-376, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:22:y:2009:i:4:p:525-552. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.