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landau

A four-wheeled carriage with two facing seats, a driver’s seat in front, and two collapsible hoods that, when closed, joined in the middle to cover all occupants (except the driver). More often the hoods were folded back, and the vehicle was used as a barouche, ie for fashionable people to ride in and be seen. The landau was invented in Germany in the late 18th century. Though many references cite the first British landau as being built in the 1830s, the print shown here is from Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, February 1809, and is titled “Patent Landau.” The accompanying article says it was built by Messrs. Birch and Son, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, and included “patented improvements in the construction of the roofs and upper quarters.”

laudanum

A tincture of opium used as a painkiller and sedative. A few drops were taken in a glass of wine or other beverage. It was widely used for a variety of ailments, by both adults and children. As with all opiates, it was potentially addictive.

jointure

A financial provision for a widow. Typically the amount is negotiated based on the portion she brought to the marriage, and is generally established as part of the marriage settlement.

jarvey

Driver of a hackney coach.

hell (ie gaming hell)

A gambling establishment. Typically not an elegant establishment, but rather a more disreputable, often secret, den of gaming. A young “pigeon” was more likely to fall victim to a dishonorable “shark” at a hell than at an elite gentleman’s club.

hackney

A coach for hire. The Regency equivalent of a taxi-cab.

guinea

A gold coin worth 21 shillings. Last coinage in 1813.

foolscap

Writing paper. The term refers to the size of the paper (17 by 13½ inches, which was typically folded, and sometimes cut, in half ) and not the quality or weight. The standard foolscap size was in use since the 15th century, and the name derives from the watermark in the shape of a jester’s hat that was once used to identify it.

entail

An inheritance of real property which cannot be sold by the owner but which passes by law to the owner’s heir upon his death. The purpose of an entail was to keep the land of a family intact in the main line of succession. The heir to an entailed estate could not sell the land, or bequeath it to anyone but his direct heir. Some entails were tied to a title and were defined in the original letters patent granting the title. The complications arising from entails were an important factor in the life of many of the upper classes, leaving many individuals wealthy in land but still heavily in debt.