Beadle

Humorous drawing of a 19th-century beadle with mace (staff), artist unknown, Punch (the British magazine), v. 18, p. 230 (1850)

A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational or ceremonial duties on the manor.

The term has pre-Conquest origins in Old English, deriving from the Old English bydel ("herald, messenger from an authority, preacher"), itself deriving from beodan ("to proclaim", which has a modern descendant in the English verb bid).[1] In Old English it was a title given to an Anglo-Saxon officer who summoned householders to council. It is also known in Medieval Latin as bedellus.

The Domesday Book refers to Beadles as bedelli or undersheriffs of manors.[2]

  1. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
  2. ^ The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge Vol III, (1846) Charles, Kinght, London, p.26