This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant of the ancient and honourable Chetwynd, itself a locational name from the parish of Chetwynd near Newport in Shropshire. Recorded as "Catewinde" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Chetewind" in the 1242 Book of Fees for Shropshire, the place was so called from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal byname "Ceatta", from "catte", cat, with "(ge)wind", a winding ascent. (The place is situated near a hill called the Scar). Locational surnames, such as this, were originally given to local landowners, and the lord of the manor, and especially as a means of identification to those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. Regional and dialectal differences subsequently gave rise to several variations on the original spelling of the name which, in the modern idiom, is found as: Chatwin, Chetwin(d), Chadwen, Chadwin and Chetwynd. Medieval entries in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Shropshire include: John de Chedewind and Adam de Chetewynde, and in 1511, Thomas Chetwen or Chetwyn was entered in the Oxford University Register. On February 10th 1561, Katherine Chadwen and William Jones were married in London, and on February 2nd 1740, John, son of Isaac Chadwin, was christened at St. Mary's, St. Marylebone Road, London. A Coat of Arms granted to the Viscounts Chetwynd is an azure shield with a chevron between three gold mullets. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam de Chetwynd, Lord of the Manor of Chetwynd, which was dated 1180, in "Early Medieval Records of Shropshire", 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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