Background

Gilbert Garnsey was born in 1883, the son of a butcher in Somerset. After attending Wellington School, he joined a local firm as an articled clerk. A talented footballer, it has been suggested that he paid for his articles with money received from Aston Villa, where he played for the second eleven between 1902 - 1904. He achieved the rare distinction of coming first in both his intermediate and final exams, and after qualification in 1905 joined Price Waterhouse, which had a policy of recruiting prizewinners, at a weekly salary of £2 (approximately £305 today). 

He became a partner in 1913 aged 30, a significant achievement in the absence of any family connections with the firm. He was variously described as “hard working, highly intelligent and ambitious”, as well as being exacting but considerate, and a “taskmaster who drove himself and his assistants very hard”. During World War One, Garnsey served as Controller of Munitions Accounts, and through his political and government contacts was subsequently in demand to serve on government committees and investigations, including the Treasury committee on the Accounting Methods of Government Departments. He was knighted in 1918 for his government work during the war.

He had a significant public profile, especially after his involvement in 1929 with the case of Clarence Hatry, a company promoter who issued fraudulent stocks to finance company acquisitions. Garnsey was an expert witness at Hatry’s trial, which ultimately led to Hatry being sentenced to 14 years in prison for fraud and forgery. 

His influence extended beyond Price Waterhouse, and a published paper 'Holding companies and their published accounts; limitations of a balance sheet', set out early proposals for a consolidated balance sheet and profit and loss account for groups of companies. The principles that he initially proposed were eventually adopted in Companies Act 1948. 

He was possibly one of the greatest senior partners that Price Waterhouse never had, dying five days before becoming senior partner. Following his death his obituaries referred to him as a “wizard of figures”, and a “financial doctor of industry”. 

There is no evidence of any advice that Sir Gilbert gave to others, however he had a great skill for numbers (his son described his father’s mind as being like a computer) and said of himself:

“To me figures have always possessed individuality. I can remember a figure connected with an individual long after I may have forgotten his features and form.” 

Finally, it is fitting in today’s climate, with an increased focus on ethics and doing the right thing, to quote Lord Plender’s praise of Sir Gilbert’s work on the Hatry trial as “a lesson to all of us - young and old - of the right way to do things”.