Certainly British, and probably European, usage. And yes, it predated electricity by quite some time, in fact said (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnbroker http

Certainly British, and probably European, usage. And yes, it predated electricity by quite some time, in fact said (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnbroker http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnbroker) to date back to the origins of banking in Italy.