When the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act was passed in 1919, Harris Smith became the world's first female Chartered Accountant.
[1] Harris Smith sought to join the Society of Accountants and Auditors in November 1887, but the president blocked her application.
[4] The applications committee recommended her admission, but the solicitor of the organisation said that she was not eligible because the royal charter only referred to males; she was therefore rejected.
[1] Mary Harris Smith, FCA and honorary incorporated accountant, died in a medical nursing home in St Leonards-on-Sea on 7 August 1934.
[6] On 5 May 2020, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales announced the commissioning of a blue plaque in commemoration of Harris Smith, 100 years since the day that she became a member.