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 August 1st 1618, William, son of Thomas and Jacobyn Calloway was christened at St. Botolph, Bishopsgate and the christening of Phillip, son of William and Joane Calloway took place at St. Mary's Whitechapel, Stepney, London on February 1st 1634. 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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