bringer

A person or a thing which brings something.

Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news / Hath but a losing office.

And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.

Someone who supplies or identifies potential recruits for the military in exchange for payment.

Hancox's recruitment would have gone something like this. In Conventry, where he may have been selling food or livestock at the town's market, he would have been intrigued by the recruiting party, especially the 'bringer', usually a sergeant, no doubt a tall man in scarlet with gold stripes on his sleeve.