The usual terminology in the UK for the style of windows which incorporate these counterweights is "sash windows".
There is a history of the windows and an image library at the site of the one of the main UK suppliers/restorers of sash windows:
The origins of the sash window have been the subject of much investigation and speculation. Until recently, the general opinion tended to be that the sash was invented in Holland in the late 17th Century. Recently, however, valuable research work undertaken by Dr Hinte Louw, of the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, suggests that the sash could have been invented earlier in the 17th Century in England. Another school of thought suggest that the sash originated in France and spread to England via Holland.
The word "sash", derived from the French "chassis" , means frame.
Charles Brooking, Historian, and curator of the Box Sash Museum.
Copyright Original Box Sash Window Company.For a history of these windows in the UK see: ref library at
http://www.boxsash.com/
