Recorded as Garway, Garaway, Garraway and possibly others, this is an Anglo-Welsh surname. It is locational from a place called Garway, some seven miles from Monmouth, formerly the capital of the county of Monmouthshire, but now sadly part of Hereford. The place was first recorded as "Garou" in the Ancient Charters of Monmouth in the year 1135, as Langarewi in the same charters for 1199 and as Garewi in the Charter Rolls of Herefordshire in 1227. The place name means "Guoruoe's track", with Guoruoe being apparently an Old British and Welsh personal name, with the second element of "weg", meaning a road or track. The surname itself first appears in records in the late 13th Century, (see below), and other recordings include Alis Garway, the daughter of Henrie Garway, who was christened at Staunton on Arrow, Hereford in 1560, whilst William, the son of William and Anne Garraway was christened at Aston Ingham on January 12th 1842. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Garewy, This was dated 1292, in the registers known as the Placita de Quo Warranto, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known to history as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the 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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