i)Occup. Abalister, (becoming banisters, literally balusters, staircase, railings), an arbalester, a crossbowman. Old French baleslier. v. Alabaster. The name in various forms is found in every early list It is sufficient to turn to the London Directory to see by the number of Bannisters the commonness of the occupation.

'Gosners, balesters, and archers': Caxton, 1489 (quoted in H.E.D).

1557. Buried — John Corker, bailister, Ulverston (Ulverston Church).

Probably this is an instance of the curious Elizabethan custom of appending the old feminine -sler to names of masculine occupation. John Corker was, I suspect, the bailie or bailiff of the town. But he may have been a cross-bowman.

(a) Local.

Adam de Banistre, temp. 1320: Baines' Lancashire.

This is the only entry with de I can find. The Testa de Neville, Hundred Rolls, and Placita de Quo Warranto have many instances, but all without prefix. It is clear however that (1) is not the only origin, judging by the character of these entries.

John Balistar, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Wyot Balistarius. Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinesi.

Renaud Balistarius. Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri Londinensi.

Henry Balistar, Oxfordshire, Henry III— Edw I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Robert Balistarius, Yorkshire, ibid.

Agnes Banastre, Salop, 1273. Hundred Rolls.Stolen from Fore-bears

Henry Banastre, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Thomas Banastie, Lancashire 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

John Banastre, Berkshire, Henry III— Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Johannes Banastre, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1674. Baptised — Anne, d. Thomas Balisster: St. James, Clerkenwell.

The surname is found all over the kingdom in large numbers. It is quite possible that some of these entries represent a personal name now forgotten.

(French-Celt.) apparently metonymic for a Basket or Hamper Carrier or Maker. [Old French banastre, bannestre, augmentative of banne, a basket; also a cover: of Celtic origin] Et de corbeilles et de vans, Et de paniers et de banastres.

— Renart, 28618; Godefroy. Banestre occurs in the copies of the Roll of Battle Abbey.

(Anglo-French-Latin) occasionally for Balister = a Cross­bowman. [Middle English balester, balister, Old French balestier, Low Latin balistari-us; Latinbal(l)ista, a military catapult]

(English) One who made and sold baskets; one who fought with a crossbow.

Banastre occurs in Holinshed's Roll of Battel Abbey. Camden derives it from balneator, the keeper of a bath. 2. A term used in the parish accounts of Chudleigh, co. Devon, and supposed to mean a traveller in distress.

The keeper of a bath; from the French bain, a bath.

Perhaps originally Bainster, one who kept a bath; from Old English and Old French bain, a bath.

From Banstead; a location name in Essex, Surrey (?) Adam Banastr in Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus, King John

Banister: from Banastree—now Beneter, near Estampes. Robert Banastre, who came over with William, held Prestatyn in Flintshire under Robert de Ruelent.

Banister: the keeper of a bath; from the French bain.

The Banisters or Bannisters, who have been for ages in the Burnley district, possess a very ancient Lancashire name. Bank Hall was for centuries the manorial residence of the Banastres or Banisters, an ancient and distinguished family possessing the lordship of the manor of Bretherton as far back as the reign of Edward III. (B.). They are said to have come from Prestatyn in North Wales in the reign of Henry II. (Hill's "Langton"). The Banisters of Bank retained their eminence in the 16th and 17th centuries, and served at times as high sheriff of the county (B.). Henry Bannester and Nicholas Banester of Lancashire contributed £25 apiece to the national fund collected at the time of the expected invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588 (Sp.). Banastre was the name of two bailiffs and a mayor of Liverpool in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. (B. L.). Christopher Banister was one of the Lancashire men who were included by Charles II. in his list of "intended Knights of the Royal Oak," an Order, however, never instituted; his estate was valued at £1,000 per annum (B.). There was an influential family of Banastre at Hadnall and Smethcott, Shropshire, from the 12th to the 14th century (Eyton's "Shropshire").

In the reign of Edward VI. the Bannisters or Banisters held an estate in Beeding, West Sussex (D.). Thomas de Banastre, apparently a Sussex man, distinguished himself in a naval fight off Winchelsea in 1350 (C.). The name is far more characteristic of Lancashire.