Brougham_(carriage)
Brougham (carriage)
Type of horse-drawn carriage
A brougham[note 1] was a light, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage built in the 19th century.[2][note 2] It was named after the politician and jurist Lord Brougham, who had this type of carriage built to his specification by London coachbuilder Robinson & Cook[2] in 1838 or 1839.[2][3] It had an enclosed body with two doors,[2] like the rear section of a coach; it sat two, sometimes with an extra pair of fold-away seats in the front corners,[3] and with a box seat in front for the driver and a footman or passenger. Unlike a coach, the carriage had a glazed front window, so that the occupants could see forward.[2] The forewheels were capable of turning sharply. A variant, called a brougham-landaulet, had a top collapsible from the rear doors backward.[note 3]
Four features specific to the Brougham were:
- the absence of a perch - the spring hangers were mounted directly to the body structure, saving weight and lowering the floor, to ease entry
- the sharply squared end of the roof at the back,
- the body line curving forward at the base of the enclosure, and
- low entry to the enclosure, using only one outside step below the door.[2]