Definition of "bearleader"

(chiefly historical) Someone who handles and keeps bears, especially for use in public entertainments such as bearbaiting or dancing displays; a bearward.

(by extension, historical)

1. Someone acting as a chaperone and tutor to a wealthy young man travelling abroad, especially in Europe.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • So!—you have really undertaken the delightful office of bear-leader—becauſe the brother of your Geraldine cannot take care of himſelf— […]

     1792, Charlotte Smith, “Letter II. To Mr. Desmond.”, in Desmond. […], volume I, London: […] G[eorge,] G[eorge,] J[ohn] and J[ames] Robinson, […], page 13

   • They pounced upon the stray nobility, and seized young lords travelling with their bear leaders.

     1846 February 28 – 1847 February 27, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “On Some Respectable Snobs”, in The Book of Snobs, London: Punch Office, […], published 1848, pages 29-30

   • […] Nick, if you please, was pronounced delicate, and led a series of tutors a fine dance until his mother decided he was old enough for the Grand Tour and sent him off with a bear-leader like some young regency lordling.

     1941, Ngaio Marsh, “Project”, in Death and the Dancing Footman, [London]: Fontana Books, William Collins Sons & Co, published September 1976, part 1, page 17

   • In 1775 Lord Herbert toured Switzerland with his bearleader William Coxe (1747–1828).

     1992, Jeremy Black, “Routes and Destinations”, in The British Abroad: The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, published 2003, page 38

2. (humorous, obsolete, rare) A captor; also, a guard, a jailer.  quotations

   Quotations

   • My bear-leaders vvere conſiderably ſurpriſed vvith my firmneſs, but ſeemed to think it beneath them to conteſt vvith me the principles I delivered. […] They left me abruptly; having firſt ordered an old man, the father of the landlady, to ſtay in the room vvith me vvhile they vvere abſent.

     1794, William Godwin, chapter VI, in Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams. […], volume III, London: […] B. Crosby, […], page 114