avant-courier

plural avant-couriers

1. A person dispatched before another person or company, to give notice of his or their approach; a scout or herald.

   Mr Farrer reached Calcutta some time before them, announcing himself as the avant-courier of His Majesty's new court, in which he was to be the leading advocate.

   1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 145

   1 more example

   Her heart sickened with impatience, the time seemed longer now that they drew so near; gradually, the long shadows mingled together, objects became confused, and it was necessary to light the lamps and flambeaux, and the avant-courier began to sound his horn: it was dangerous to risk meeting another carriage in the then state of the roads.

   1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Return Home”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 309

   Synonyms: harbinger, messenger