Accountancy Ancestors: Contra Green

The late nineteenth century saw the establishment of student societies in many of the major urban centres of England as a way for articled clerks to network with their peers and develop the professional skills they would need as the next generation of members. Amongst these was The Chartered Accountant Students' Society of London (CASSL) which was established in 1883.

Thirty student societies were in existence by the mid-1960s, representing 16,000 students and liaising with ICAEW through the umbrella body of the Union of Chartered Accountants Students' Societies.

Contra was the journal of the Chartered Accountant Students' Society of London in the 1960s. The "What's on?- official programme and information" (also known as "Contra green") was issued as an annexe to this title between July 1965 and December 1967.

The content in Contra Green was lighter in tone than the main professional titles of the day such as Accountancy and The Accountant. This is particularly noticeable in the short biographical profiles given of committee members and speakers which tend to focus on quirkier facts and hobbies. For example, one memorable biographical profile describes a speaker who 'made use of his vacations to sample a Balkan prison and to sleep in ditches and haystacks all over Europe, and therafter found the humdrum life of a chartered accountant's office hard to bear'! (Contra Green, 1st June 1966, p82).

1965-1967 (all issues indexed)

560 obituaries are listed in the obituaries index from this journal.

The index includes all obituaries published within the journal except for one line announcements of death and most references to deaths made in Council sessions (substantial eulogies given in Council have been included). The majority of obituaries indexed are for Incorporated Accountants and Chartered Accountants (ICAEW) but the listing also includes other persons of prominence in the wider accountancy profession, the legal profession, government and society.

229 portraits are listed in the portraits index from this journal. The portraits index includes details of named individuals in group and event photographs.

24 assorted illustrations are listed in the illustrations index from this journal.