Black Maria
Preserved but no longer current.
The van which conveys prisoners from the police courts to jail. There is an unsupported tradition that the term originated in America. Maria Lee, a negress of great size and strength, kept a sailors' boarding house in Boston, and when constables required help it was a common thing to send for "Black Maria," who soon collared the refractory and led them to the lock-up.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Black Maria” mean?
The van which conveys prisoners from the police courts to jail. There is an unsupported tradition that the term originated in America. Maria Lee, a negress of great size and strength, kept a sailors' boarding house in Boston, and when constables required help it was a common thing to send for "Black Maria," who soon collared the refractory and led them to the lock-up.
Is “Black Maria” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.