The Board of Trade
Preserved but no longer current.
A Government department— officially a Committee of the Privy Council — dealing with commercial and industrial affairs, such as bankruptcy, com- pany matters, railways, weights and measures, harbours, patents, trade and merchandise marks, etc.
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 “The Board of Trade” mean?
A Government department— officially a Committee of the Privy Council — dealing with commercial and industrial affairs, such as bankruptcy, com- pany matters, railways, weights and measures, harbours, patents, trade and merchandise marks, etc.
Is “The Board of Trade” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.