This interesting surname is of Norman French locational origin, from the place called "Caillouet-Orgeville" in the province of Eure, which is recorded in 1157 as "Cailloel". The placename means "place of stones or pebbles", from the Old Norman "cail(ou)" meaning pebble or stone. The English surname derives in part from those followers of William the Conqueror who introduced the name into England and in part from the place called "Kellaways" in Wiltshire, named from the Norman family who were the local landowners. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 12th Century (see below). One, Thomas de Kaillewey, appears in the Wiltshire Liber Feodorum (1242) and William Calleweye, is noted in the Liber Feodorum, Devonshire in 1242. In the modern idiom, the surname has many variant spellings including Calloway, Calway, Kelleway, Kellaway, Kelway etc.. On November 27th 1590, Thomas, son of Thomas Callaway was christened at St. Giles Cripplegate, London and the marriage of Katharine Callaway and Richard Dearemore took place at St. Dunstan's, Stepney on June 24th 1633. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip de Chailewai, which was dated 1165, in the "Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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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