This most interesting surname may derive from two distinct possible origins. Firstly, it may be of English locational origin from "Chatley", the name of places in Worcestershire and Essex. The placename in Essex, recorded "Chatelee" and "Chattel" in 1199 and 1235, respectively in the Feet of Fines of Essex is composed of the old English personal name "Cetta", plus the ending "ley", from the old English word "leah", meaning forest or clearing in a forest. The surname may in some instances, be of French locational origin from any of the following places; Le Quesnay (Seine-Inferieure), Quesnay (Calvados La Manche) or Quesnay-Guesnon (Calvados) all of which ultimately derive from the old French "Chesnai", oak-grove. The surname may also denote an immigrant from France who lived by an oak-grove or came from Chenay, Chenoy or Chesnoy. Hugh de Chaisnei appeared in the Eynsham Cartulary in Oxford in 1140. Thomas Chadley married Alice Saward in Roxwell, Essex on May 9th 1577. John Chadney married Elizabeth Burchill at St. Dunstan, Stepney, London on August 6th 1827. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Radulfus de Caisned, which was dated 1086, The Domesday Book of Sussex, during the reign of King William 1st, "William the Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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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