Brougham (carriage)

A brougham is a light, enclosed, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage of the 19th century, named for the British politician and jurist Lord Brougham, who commissioned the London coachbuilders Robinson and Cook to build the first example to his own specifications in 1838. Its enclosed body carried two main passengers behind two doors with fold-away seats for children, and its low floor, achieved by removing the traditional perch, small front wheels capable of a sharp turning circle, and elliptical springs made it an unusually comfortable, easily managed single-horse town carriage. The brougham became a staple private carriage of the Victorian middle and upper classes, and a later brougham-landaulet variant added a collapsible top for open-air use.