lankester is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The lankester family lived in the city of Lancaster, in Lancashire.
The surname lankester was first found in Lancashire where they held a family seat as Constables of Lancaster Castle from very ancient times. One of the first records of the family was found in Litherland, one of the ancient manors of Aughton. "About the middle of the twelfth century it was granted to Warin de Lancaster, chief forester, by the serjeanty of keeping the lord's falcons." [1]
The chapelry of Milburn, Westmorland is also of significance to the family in early times. "The chapel, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, was founded by William de Lancaster, about 1355. Many vestiges of encampments are visible. Howgill Castle, formerly the seat of the knightly families of Lancaster and Sandford, and which, with Grange Hall and Lownthwaite, belongs to the Earl of Thanet, lord of the manor, occupies a commanding situation, half a mile east of the village; some of its walls are 10½ feet thick." [2]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our lankester research. Another 218 words (16 lines of text) covering the years 1068, 1066, 1070, 1114, 1150, 1334, 1618, 1650 and 1717 are included under the topic Early lankester History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancester, Lancoster, Lancastell and many more.
Another 34 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early lankester Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the lankester family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.