What was a trouncer in a brewery?

Answer 1

In London, the typical team consisted of two horses pulling a dray, with a drayman to drive and a trouncer to help load and unload the beer kegs. Prior to the 1850′s, a full load commonly consisted of three 108-gallon barrels. But in the middle of the nineteenth century, drays were enlarged to carry 12 to 20 barrels each, a load that weighed four tons. This required two horses in superb condition, perhaps even three.