William Welch Deloitte (13 February 1818 – 23 August 1898) was a British accountant and the founder of the

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in the arts or sciences. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, doctors, and lawyers require the practitioner to hold profes ...

firm that subsequently became

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professi ...

in the United States and Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte in the United Kingdom. He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. He was one of the fathers of the

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

profession.

Early life

A grandson of a Count de Loitte, who had fled France during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, Deloitte started his career early. At the age of 15 he became an assistant to the Official Assignee at the

Bankruptcy Court United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, and there he learned the business.

Career

At the age of 25, Deloitte opened his own office opposite the Bankruptcy Court in

Basinghall Street Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. Small, it is bounded by wards: Coleman Street, east; Cheap, south; Cripplegate, north; Aldersgate, west. It first consisted of Basinghall Street with the courts and short side streets off it,

. He made his name with the industry of the day—the railways—and in 1849 at the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...

. He discovered fraud perpetrated on the Great Northern Railway by Leopold Redpath, invented a system for railway accounts that protected investors from mismanagement of funds, and was to become the grand old man of the profession. When Deloitte retired from Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths & Co. in 1897, one year before his death, he was the oldest practising accountant. He served as president of the newly created Institute of Chartered Accountants between 1888 and 1889. He died in 1898.

References

1818 births 1898 deaths English accountants English people of French descent Deloitte people 19th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-stub