There are a small percentage of names whose origin can have several sources, Bavister is one of them. The first source is the Olde English 'Baverstock' a locational name from the village of that name in Wiltshire. The second and most probable is as an East Anglian dialectual corruption of the French and English 'Baccestre' meaning a village baker and also found in the variants Bannister and Baluster, or the heraldic Version, Baversor, or 'Caxtons Gosher', balestes and Archers 1489. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Balister. which was dated 1273, The Hundred Rolls of Norfolk. during the reign of King Edward I, The Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.