Agency Reversal and the Steward's Lot When Discharge Exceeds Charge: English Archival Evidence, 1739-1890

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Abstract

This study examines the charge-discharge accounting system of a Yorkshire landowning charitable trust during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One unusual feature of the accounts is that, on many occasions, the Trust appeared to be indebted to its bailiff for long periods of time. The article draws on previous work on such credit balances to explore possible explanations for this apparent reversal of the normal principal-agent position. It confirms the proposition that a credit balance on the accounts represented amounts owed to the bailiff/steward, rather than inclusion of other creditors' balances. However, the cash-based charge-discharge accounting system was …