Lyster/Lister
Yorkshire, County Roscommon, County Cork, Dublin
Anthony Lyster
Walter Lyster 1566-?
Anthony Lyster
Thomas Lyster ca 1663-1726
John Lyster ca 1693-ca1755
Henry Lyster ca 1727-?
John Lyster 1754-1820
Charles Frederick ca 1788-1855
Mary Anne Lyster ca 1835-?1910
Lyster
meaning and origins
There seem to be two possible sources, both occupational. The first is from the Middle English ‘litster’ meaning a dyer, and the second is from the Scottish meaning the son of an arrow maker.
variations
Lister, Lester, McLeister
distribution in England and Wales
The majority nowadays seem to be in Yorkshire, though I have to confess that the information I found is a bit unclear - particularly when it comes to older data.
The Lysters, like the Nasons are Irish gentility and somebody has produced the line of ancestors that is shown at the top of the page. I have not checked it all out, so cannot confirm its veracity. There are also several branches of the family which originated in Yorkshire way back in the middle ages.
They came into our story via a marriage into the Merrick family, who retained the Lyster name for at least one of their sons. I have to confess it is a line I have not investigated at all to date - this page is merely a placemarker at this point in time, in a way.
Lyster is sometimes spelt Lister - some family documents that have recently come to light, courtesy of Tom Merrick, have it spelt this way.
