This interesting surname, with variant spelling Bruster, has two distinct possible origins, the first and most likely being an occupational name for a brewer of beer and ale. The derivation in this instance is from the Old English pre 7th Century verb "breowan", to brew , which gave rise to the medieval English "brewestere" and "browestere", originally denoting a female brewer, but used equally for both male and female brewers from the early twelve hundred onwards as the following recordings show: Roger Breuestere, (Suffolk, 1221), and Emma le Breuestere, (The Hundred Rolls of Berkshire, 1279). The name may also be occupational for an embroideress, from the Medieval English "broudestere", ultimately from the Old French "brouder" to embroiden. One, Gelisius Browdester was noted in the 1377, "Records of York City". On May 10th 1563, Thomas Broster and Katheryn Ardnolde were married in Christ Church Greyfriars, Newgate, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Briwerra, which was dated 1192, in the "Ancient Charters of Hampshire", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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