Deep Reading: Ovington's Bank

Deep Reading · Glossary of Terms · Ovington's Bank

Accommodation bill – A bill of exchange accepted by a person (the "accommodation party") to help another raise money, without goods or services being exchanged. Common in 1825 speculation.
Aldersbury – A fictional county town in the Welsh Marches, based on real towns like Shrewsbury or Ludlow.

Bank of England – The central bank of the UK. In 1825, it nearly ran out of gold during the panic.
Baronet – A hereditary title, ranking below a baron but above a knight. Sir Charles Woosenham is a baronet.
Beadlecare-taker. administrator
BlanketeersThe Blanketeers or Blanket March was a demonstration organised in Manchester in March 1817.
Bow Street RunnersThe Bow Street Runners were the law enforcement officers of the Bow Street Magistrates' Court in the City of Westminster, London's first professional police force.
Brummagem – A dialect and sometimes derogatory term for Birmingham, often associated with cheap manufacturing.
Brummell – Beau Brummell was a fashion icon and a close friend of the Prince Regent in Regency England.

Canal Acts – Acts of Parliament authorising the construction of canals. They often included compulsory purchase powers.
Carriage of one – Carriage drawn by one horse
C.O. notes – Banknotes issued by Ovington's Bank, stamped with "CO" for Charles Ovington.
Consols – Short for "consolidated annuities" created in 1751. Paid a fixed rate of interest, usually 3%. Their price on the stock market was a key indicator of national financial confidence.
Covert – Thicket, brush, or undergrowth
Coverture – The legal doctrine under which a married woman's property and legal rights were subsumed by her husband.
Cop, The – A steep hill in Aldersbury. A dialect word for a hilltop or summit.
Counterskipper – A contemptuous term for a banker or merchant, implying they work behind a counter.

Exchequer Bills – Short-term government securities, often used as a safe investment. They fell sharply in 1825.

Fauntleroy, Henry – A London banker executed for forgery in 1824. His case was a major scandal.
Fisticuffs – Bare-knuckled boxing
Flash kens – 19th-century slang for places where criminals congregate.
Forgery – The crime of falsely making or altering a signature. Arthur commits fraud in factum, not forgery.

Garth – The Squire's estate. The name means "enclosure" or "court" in Welsh.
Garthmyle – The village where Arthur's mother lives. Based on the real village of Garthmyl in Powys.
Glut of goods – A market condition where supply exceeds demand, causing prices to fall. A key feature of the 1825 crisis.

Hackney/hack – Any of an English breed of rather compact usually chestnut, bay, or brown high-stepping horses.
Ha-ha – A sunken fence—a ditch with a retaining wall, designed to keep livestock out without obstructing the view.
Hessians – A style of knee-high riding boots that became popular in the 19th century, originally worn by German soldiers and later adopted by civilians.
Holyhead Mail – The Royal Mail coach service between London and Holyhead, passing through Aldersbury.
Huskisson, William – A politician associated with free trade and reform, despised by the Squire.

India Stock – Shares in the East India Company. A major investment in the 1820s.

Joint Stock Company – A business owned by shareholders. The Valleys Railroad is a joint stock company.

Lombard Street Lombard Street is a street notable for its connections with the City of London's merchant, banking and insurance industries, stretching back to medieval times.
Liverpool, Lord – Prime Minister from 1812 to 1827. The Squire thought he was "aging" and weak.

Mail coach – A fast coach carrying the Royal Mail. It had priority on the roads.
Maltster – A maker of malt for use in brewing or distilling.
Monte Reales – a specific, highly speculative mining stock of the Real del Monte Mining Company in Mexico.

Nadin, Joseph – A notorious deputy constable of Manchester, known for his brutal methods.
Nonconformists – Protestants who did not belong to the Church of England. They were politically excluded in the 1820s.

Old Boney – was the popular British nickname for Napoleon Bonaparte, and "the pictures of old Boney" is a direct reference to the enormous quantity of satirical cartoons that mocked him during the Napoleonic Wars.

Peel, Sir Robert – A politician, son of a cotton manufacturer. His rise symbolised the new industrial elite.
Peterloo Massacre – The 1819 massacre of reformers in Manchester. A symbol of government repression.
Pole's Bank – A real London bank that failed in 1825, causing a chain reaction.
Post-chaise – A fast carriage hired for travel, with horses changed at staging inns.

Quarterly Review – A conservative political and literary journal. The Squire read it after his Bible.

Run on a bank – When many depositors demand their gold at once, potentially forcing the bank to close.

Stackyard – A yard or field containing straw or grain in stacks.
South Sea Bubble – The 1720 financial crash, often used as a warning against speculation.
Specie – Gold and silver coins, as opposed to paper money.
Staging inn – An inn where horses were changed on long coach journeys.

Test Acts – Laws that barred Nonconformists and Catholics from public office, repealed in 1828–29.
Tilbury – A light, fast, two-wheeled sporting carriage developed by the London coachbuilder Tilbury in the early 19th century.
Tory – A conservative political faction, opposed to reform. The Squire is a Tory.
Trust account – A bank account held separately for a specific purpose, not part of the bank's general funds.

Usury – The practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate.

Valleys Steam Railroad – The fictional railroad scheme at the centre of the novel.

Watier's – Watier's was a famous and short-lived gentlemen's club in London, established in 1807 and closed by 1819."
Wellington, Duke of – The hero of Waterloo. The Squire thought he was "no longer the man he had been."
Wonder, The – A famous fast coach that did the journey from London in 15 hours.

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