Institute stories
Honour for New Zealand President
Our Centennial President, Graham Crombie, will be granted the Freedom of the City of London in London's Guildhall on Friday 20 June. Graham's freedom ceremony will immediately precede the UK Branch's Centennial Dinner in the nearby Gibson Hall. Graham will enter our dinner as the Youngest Freeman of the City of London!
One of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today is the granting of the Freedom of the City of London. It is believed that the first Freedom was presented in 1237. The medieval term 'freeman' meant someone who was not the property of a feudal lord, but enjoyed privileges such as the right to earn money and own land. Town dwellers who were protected by the charter of their town or city were often free - hence the term 'Freedom of the City'.
Freedom ceremonies are usually conducted by the Clerk of the Court. Freemen, their nominators and guests are escorted to the Court by the Beadle, who wears the traditional top hat and tails. The Clerk of the Court wears a silk gown, and if the Chamberlain performs the ceremony, he wears the traditional ermine-trimmed gown.
The Chamberlain is the Finance Director of the City of London. The current Chamberlain is Chris Bilsland. We are delighted that Chris has offered to perform Graham's Freedom Ceremony personally.
Tickets for the UK Branch Centennial Dinner are available on www.nzica.co.uk
Institute historian receives 60-year certificate
Alan Graham was recently presented with a 60-year membership certificate by the Institute’s Chief Executive, Keith Wedlock.
Mr Graham was formerly the General Secretary of the Institute, the equivalent of the Chief Executive today. Mr Graham also wrote the 50-year history of the Institute for the fiftieth anniversary.
Mr Graham reflected on the Institute’s first fifty years and he and Mr Wedlock enjoyed comparing notes on the role of chief executive. Both looked forward to a successful next fifty years for the Institute.
Family’s 50 year membership
The Bryant family includes a father, two sons and a daughter spanning 50 years membership of the Institute.
Kevin Bryant qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1958. Since then three of his children have qualified as Chartered Accountants and work in the profession: Mark, who works for the Australian Red Cross Blood Service in Melbourne, qualified in 1992; Paul, who works for Telecom, in 2006; and Sarah, who works for PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, in 2007. All have Bachelors of Commerce from Victoria University of Wellington and Sarah also has a Law degree.
Over fifty years ago Kevin Bryant started his working life in the Bank of Australasia in Ashburton (he later transferred to Wellington), where he worked for five years. Mr Bryant said in the post-war economy finding employment was easy – “you’d just go next door and get a job”. He said he eventually left the bank because all the young men like himself were working very long hours, usually till 8.30 or 9 at night. “You couldn’t even date a girl! She wouldn’t understand!”
He decided to pursue accountancy so moved back to Canterbury where he’d grown up, and joined the Christchurch firm of Harry Lake, a local MP, an experience he described as “wonderful”. He worked there while studying Commerce at the University of Canterbury, a degree he completed at Victoria University. After graduating, he worked in the commercial and local government sectors until his retirement.
From London, his youngest child Sarah said: “ironically I swore I would never become an accountant. But life has taught me you can never say never. I always wanted to study law and this was, if anything, what I was encouraged by my family to study at university. I took commerce as a back up to law…then I had the exciting and dynamic Don Trow as one of my accountancy lecturers and I understood why my father and two brothers had chosen accountancy for their careers.”
She’s found the opportunities at PricewaterhouseCoopers very rewarding and is enjoying the variety and challenge of her work. She has now travelled widely and continues to plan future journeys – “my next trip is to Turkey for an ANZAC tour. I'm actually going with a whole bunch of accountants!”
Eventually Sarah does intend to return to New Zealand – “New Zealand will always be my home. This is not to say that I'm not loving living and working in London. I think it will be hard to leave!”
Regardless of where in the world they are, the Bryants continue their work in accounting and look set to add even more years to that half century membership.
‘A father of the Society’
Mr Charlton D. Morpeth
Charlton Morpeth was educated at Wellington College and began practice as a public accountant in 1894. He continued in practice until his death in 1952. His obituary in The Accountants’ Journal noted that “surely this figure of 58 year’s active practice must be almost a record for New Zealand.”
In 1895 he was appointed secretary of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants of New Zealand, a position he held continuously until 1939. He was a life member. It was the officers of that body and the New Zealand Accountants’ and Auditors’ Association that were responsible for the formation of the Society in 1908. The Journal said, “for this reason Mr Morpeth could well be called one of the fathers of the Society.”
He was a foundation member of the Society in 1909 and wrote for the Journal till 1949. In 1917 he wrote a history of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants, one of the most valuable accounts on the history of the profession in New Zealand
Morpeth was elected to the Wellington City Council in 1927. He was an auditor of a number of public companies and a director.
In his youth Mr Morpeth won the Australasian five mile championship in 1894 and his record was unbeaten for over 50 years. He also won the New Zealand mile and three mile championships in 1893.
He was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Unfortunately, he died before hearing of the award.
Ninety four and going strong
At 94 years of age William Birnie’s mind is as sharp as a razor, with memories of the past, strong views on the present and expectations for the future. A member for 72 years, he is looking forward to receiving his 80-year membership certificate.
Mr Birnie started his working career as a teacher and through further training moved on to become a cost accountant during World War II. He worked as company secretary for firms including New Zealand Steel and Cable Price Downer and spent the final 10 years of his career consulting to law firm Bell Gully. He also served on the Higher Salaries Commission for 11 years. ”I was really lucky indeed with the variety I have had right through my working life” he said. He retired at the age of 82 and credits his Scottish immigrant parents for instilling a strong work ethic.
He went on to say his wonderful family, the challenging crosswords he completed and a little gin has kept him going so strong all these years.
Mr Birnie now enjoys spending his time reading, indulging his passion for the classics, poetry and attending the local Probus Club.
Mr Ernie Craig
Fellow, Associate Chartered Accountant
Mr Craig was born and bred in Auckland. He moved to Tauranga in 1947, when the population of Tauranga had just hit 5000.
In 1947 Mr Craig established Granger & Craig. Several years and name changes later the practice is now known as KPMG Tauranga. Mr Craig retired for the first time after 40 years with the firm and is the surviving founder.
Mr Craig’s second retirement came 16 years later, after serving as a director on the New Zealand Dairy Board, the Port of Tauranga and the board of Quayside, the investment arm of Environment Bay of Plenty. He’s unable to claim to be fully retired yet due to his involvement in the affairs of the late Sir Robert Owens, founder of the Owens Group, and several other small companies.
Some of the highlights during Mr Craig’s time working in the profession include serving as President of the Institute from 1973-4, councillor for eight years representing public practice and an early official of the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Branch in the mid 1950s. Mr Craig’s contributions to the Institute were acknowledged on 19 October 1955 when he was awarded a Fellowship.
Mr Craig enjoyed the pleasure of over 50 years playing golf and donated the Craig Cup in 1964 to the branch. This cup is still being played for at the branch’s annual sports day.
Mr Craig is the proud father of four children and 10 grandchildren and enjoys spending time with his family.
Chartered Insurance Institute
celebrates 100 years
The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants is not the only organisation celebrating its centennial year. Based in London, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is also celebrating its centennial year this year. The flagship event for the centenary was hosted by the Centennial President of the CII, Rt Hon The Lord Hunt of Wirral, MBE on Tuesday 4 March 2008. The special guest of honour and speaker was the former British Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir John Major, KG, CH. European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy also gave an address. New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants UK Branch Chairman Bevan Killick was an invited guest as he sits on the CII's Audit Committee. Also attending the dinner were Lord Heseltine, Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP, former Lord Mayor of London and Chairman of Lloyd's Lord Levene of Portsoken KBE and former Lord Mayor of London Alderman Sir David Brewer CMG.
The dinner was held in the Great Hall of the City of London's Guildhall. The present Guildhall was begun in 1411 and, having survived both the Great Fire of London and the Blitz, it is the only secular stone structure dating from before 1666 still standing in the City. The Great Hall is the third largest civic hall in England, and royalty and state visitors have been entertained there down the centuries. It has been the setting for famous state trials, including that of Lady Jane Grey in 1553. The imposing medieval hall has stained glass windows and several monuments to national heroes including Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill.