T.H. Frankling
The Mysterious Fountainhead of CGA Ontario
Page 4
In 1931, the Dominion Board—knowing that Ivy was studying for the Intermediate Examination that, if passed, would admit her into membership—announced that women candidates would be allowed to sit for examinations. It was an announcement that was reported by several newspapers. Still, Harold Garland recalls that the directors of Toronto Branch were somewhat nervous about Ivy’s prospects: “When she completed  her examinations, apparently T.H. and others were wondering what the reaction of the GAA head office in Montreal would be. Certainly they were hopeful that there’d be no objection, but people wondered. They were glad when she became a CGA.”
In 1931, after passing the intermediate exam, Ivy A. Cox became the first woman to be admitted into membership of the GAA. In 1932, after passing the final exam, she became the first female CGA in Canada. She was also the youngest person to achieve either honour. The achievement was national news. Her photograph appeared in the Toronto Telegram and Evening Telegram, accompanied by headlines such as “First to be Honoured” and “First Woman C.G.A.”
It was an article in the Toronto Star, however, accompanied by the headline “Girl is Member Accountants’ Assn.,” that raised the ire of her mentor, T.H. Frankling. The article insinuated that she was “given an opportunity of trying the intermediate examination” because of her success at the University of Toronto. It was an insinuation that provoked a frosty response from Frankling:
Since the General Accountants Association was incorporated in 1913 under a Dominion Charter, its membership has been open to those interested in the profession of accountancy who are of good moral character and reside in the Dominion of Canada. Last year ladies were, for the first time, admitted to membership, and Miss Cox was the first one to make application and be accepted. She applied to sit for the Intermediate Exam last month, and was successful in passing the complete Examination, thus being the first woman to obtain Intermediate standing in the Association.
In the ensuing years, Ivy Cox would marry William H. Thomas, an aspiring accountant who worked for T.H. Frankling’s firm. Harold Garland recalls other CGAs mentioning to him that William was having trouble with his studies, and that Frankling and Ivy acted as his tutors during the evenings, when the day’s business came to an end. William H. Thomas and Ivy Cox eventually married, and Ivy A. Cox became Ivy Thomas, for whom the Ivy Thomas Award for exceptional service to the Association is named. In 1947, Ivy would become the first woman to chair CGA Ontario Toronto Chapter, and was awarded her fellowship designation by CGA Canada in 1988.
Her courage was indisputable. So was her fortitude. But what of T.H. Frankling? Frankling was a Victorian living in the shifting social conditions of the 20th Century, with a Victorian’s sense of decorum, rigid social divides and proper etiquette. He had been raised in a conservative society and he had undertaken a conservative profession. Nevertheless, he had the foresight to mentor and promote the first female CGA in Canada. One suspects that his standing in the Association—as a former president of the GAA and a pioneer in his own right—helped smooth the way for another pioneer.
However, one more facet of Ivy’s achievement should not be overlooked: she achieved her designation in 1932. It was the third year of the Great Depression and one of the worst, when unemployment reached more than 25 per cent, and men fought (sometimes literally) for scarce employment. News that women would compete on relatively equal footing for employment in any profession was still a radical and threatening affront to many—if not most—men.
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