A lively and entertaining history that avoids the dangers of being a tedious litany of benevolent acts by highlighting the astonishing variety of people who contributed in many ways, and humanising the generosity over125 years. There is a fascinating account of Victorian funerary practices and the ruinous cost of dying. There is a disturbing account of the horrors of the workhouse and the condition of those who had fallen on hard times. There are vignettes of various people who illuminate the early days - founding fathers of the accountancy profession: Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths, Whinney, van de Linde, Waterhouse, Peat and more; and a disreputable Chief Justice, a scandalous duchess and the dutch poet laureate (complete with an original translation of one of his comic poems).