Nice summary Skybird.
As a nation Britain was really punching above its weight against Napoleon's huge and wealthy continental empire and needed large sums of cash quickly. I believe quite a number of innovative ways were developed by the British government to fund its military spending during the Napoleonic Wars, including levying a tax on wig-powder, eventually making the wearing of wigs too expensive and stopping the fashion for them; which I guess can only be a good thing, unless your a wig maker that is!
