Beadle

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (v.) An officer in a university, who precedes public processions of officers and students.

(2): (v.) An inferior parish officer in England having a variety of duties, as the preservation of order in church service, the chastisement of petty offenders, etc.

(3): (v.) A messenger or crier of a court; a servitor; one who cites or bids persons to appear and answer; - called also an apparitor or summoner.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is a title of —

(1) certain university officials known also as Bedells of divinity, arts, and law, who formally attend the authorities upon public occasions, to perform certain prescribed duties;

(2) a lay officer who preserves order in churches and chapels. (See Acolyth).