Shall I put these on your account?

Credit is hardly a modern invention and in fact most people, except the very poor, bought on credit during Georgian times. There were no credit cards, of course, but if you put something on your account, the shopkeeper would take note and periodically ask for payment. They might keep their accounts in a ledger or a publican might keep a tally in chalk by the door.

In Pride and Prejudice, of course, George Wickham had accumulated a number of debts, presumably to milliners and innkeepers, in addition to gambling losses. Here, Elizabeth and Jane Bennet are talking of the low regard Wickham has left behind (Volume III, Chapter 5) after he left Meryton:

“And did Colonel Forster appear to think well of Wickham himself? Does he know his real character?”

“I must confess that he did not speak so well of Wickham as he formerly did. He believed him to be imprudent and extravagant. And since this sad affair has taken place, it is said that he left Meryton greatly in debt; but I hope this may be false.’

Lucy Worsley found a very extreme example of how far credit was extended in the Prince Regent’s purchases with his tailor:

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