Brister History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Brister was first used centuries ago in the region that was once the Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. It was a name for a brewster or brewer. Brister is an occupational name, given to someone who held the occupation of a brewer of ale. The inclusion of the feminine suffix -ster, indicates that this was originally a woman’s occupation. Members of the Brister family were originally found in Lanarkshire, where the family can trace its origin to shortly after the Norman Conquest, in 1066.

Early Origins of the Brister family

The surname Brister was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow. The Scord of Brouster is one of the earliest Neolithic farm sites in Shetland, Scotland dating back to 2220 BC. Some of the earliest records of the family include: Nicholaus, braciator regis (i.e. the king’s brewer), was present at the perambulation of lands in 1219; Johannes the ‘braciator’ was one of the ‘native men’ of the Abbey of Dunfermline in the thirteenth century; and Thomas le Breuester of the forest of Passeley in the county of Lanark rendered homage in 1296.