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Senate House Library, University of London

Commissioners for Examining Public Accounts


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0096 MS 77

Held at: Senate House Library, University of London

Title: Commissioners for Examining Public Accounts

Date(s): 1703

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 1 volume containing 173 leaves

Name of creator(s): Commissioners for Examining Public Accounts

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The earliest surviving mention of a public official charged with auditing government expenditure is a reference to the Auditor of the Exchequer in 1314. The Auditors of the Imprest were established under Queen Elizabeth I in 1559 with formal responsibility for auditing Exchequer payments. This system gradually lapsed and in 1780, Commissioners for Auditing the Public Accounts were appointed by statute. From 1834, the Commissioners worked in tandem with the Comptroller of the Exchequer, who was charged with controlling the issue of funds to the government.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Manuscript volume containing minutes of the proceedings of the Commissioners for Examining Public Accounts, 30 Mar-14 Aug 1703. The manuscript is volume four of a series, and has an index at the end.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Single item.

Conditions governing access:

Access to the items in the collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the controlled environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Access to archive collections may be restricted under the Freedom of Information Act. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

Physical characteristics:

Manuscript folio. Bound in quarter-morocco.

Finding aids:

Collection level description.

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

The manuscript was part of the library of Thomas Carew of Crowcombe Court (d 1766). It was bought by Herbert Somerton Foxwell in 1903.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Part of the Goldsmith's Library of Economic Literature, initially collected by Herbert Somerton Foxwell and presented by the Goldsmith's Company to the University of London in 1903.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

The House of Lords Record Office, London, holds papers of the Commissioners of Accounts, including reports and statements, 1669-1785.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Sarah Smith as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Rules or conventions: ISAD(G) 2nd edition, and NCA rules for the construction of personal, place and corporate names (1997).

Date(s) of descriptions: Aug 2000


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Financial audit | Budgetary control | Budgets | Finance
Public finance | Finance

Personal names

Corporate names
Commissioners for Examining Public Accounts

Places