Chellew Genealogy Archive

Introduction

It was not until the early middle ages that surnames began to be used to distinguish between people having the same first name. Often people were named after their father, an occupation, a personal characteristic or a place of residence.

The surname Chellew is believed to have originated as a place name. The “Che” part of the name undoubtedly comes from the Cornish word “Chy” meaning house. It is a little more difficult to decide on the origins of the second part of the name “llew”. Mr G. Pawley White in his book, “A Handbook Of Cornish Surnames” suggests that it may have come from the word “logh” meaning lake / inlet of water, or that “Lew” was merely a persons name. The Rev. William Borlase who wrote an account of the parish of Ludgvan in 1770 suggested that the origin of the name may have been from the Cornish word “Leauh” meaning calf. So the name Chellew could mean, Lake House, Lew’s House or Calf House.

The earliest known reference of the name dates from the marriage of Symon Chilewe to Jane at Ludgvan in Cornwall on 1st January 1564. Borlase also referred to a tenement in the parish of Ludgvan called Chilew. The tenement was situated next to a natural spring called Chilew Well which rises on the south eastern slope of Castle-an-Dinas. Borlase refers to the stream running from the spring as Chilew Water. The stream runs to the east of Ludgvan where it combines with a number of other streams before running into the sea near Marazion. A place called “Lower Chellew” is still marked on the current Ordinance Survey maps, to the north west of Ludgvan.

G. Pawley White confirms that the name originated in the far west of Cornwall so it is logical to assume that the first people to use the name Chellew lived in the parish of Ludgvan and adopted it from the place where they lived. One theory is that all people using the surname should therefore be able to trace their family origins back to Ludgvan.

Most ordinary folk were illiterate before the 19th century so the spelling of surnames varied according to the clerk who transcribed them on to various documents. The name Chellew has been variously spelt as Chelew, Chellew, Chellow, Chelue, Chilew, Chilewe, and Chylew.

Today the Chellews have spread all over the world. Although there are only 14 Chellews listed on the current Electoral Register for Cornwall there are over 50 in the telephone book for Canada, over 150 in the USA and many more in Australia. Thus it can be seen that the distribution of the surname graphically reflects the pattern of Cornish emigration which occurred in the 19th Century.

Chellew remains an uncommon and unusual surname which because of it’s distinct Cornish roots has sparked the interest of many family historians. The most notable family historian was the late Rev. Daryl Chellew from Australia who carried out much valuable research. There are no less than 10 individuals who currently list the Chellew name as of interest to them, in the 1996 issue of the Cornwall Family History Society “Directory Of Members’ Interests”.

The Following Sections Contain Files Of The Main Chellew Families

The Ludgvan Chellews

This branch is headed by 5 individuals, Symon, Grace, John, Elizabeth and William Chellew who were born in Ludgvan, Cornwall in the mid 16th Century. They are presumed to have been siblings. It includes those branches which moved to St Minver, St Ives, South Wales, Chile and from those points to the rest of the world.

The South Australia Chellews

This group is headed by George Chellew who married Jane Nicholls at Penzance, Cornwall in 1848. The couple subsequently moved to South Australia where George died in 1891. It is known that his father was a Miner called William Chellew, but no further details are known at this stage.

The Michigan Chellews

This branch is headed by John Chellew who married Elizabeth Blake at St Minver, Cornwall on 31st December 1823. His son William Henry Chellew emigrated to Michigan, and a large number of descendants are now situated in the USA.

South African Chellews

Newley uploaded section containing Chellews in South Africa. Details to follow.

Miscellaneous Chellews

This is the section where I need most help. It contains a number of individuals who are largely unrelated and who I have been unable to connect to any of the main lines.

Acknowledgements

The above files are largely based on the work of Daryl Chellew. I have also received information from a large number of other individuals to whom I am very grateful. This data has been augmented and largely verified by research carried out by myself and others. However, since some of the information contained in the files originated from third party sources I would urge anyone making use of this data to verify the details for themselves.

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Contacts

If you have any connections, amendments, additions etc that could be made to any Chellew families please contact:-
Chellews In Canada - Gail Chellew at gail.chellew@sympatico.ca
Chellews, Rest Of World - Nev Meek at chellew.genealogy@yahoo.co.uk

Links

1. The Chellew Chronicle Website for Chellew descendants can be accessed with a password supplied by Gail Chellew (see above) and found at the following location http://www.myfamily.com
2. Chellew Genealogy Forum http://genforum.genealogy.com/chellew
3. The Surname Web Chellew Genealogy Centre http://www.surnameweb.org/registry/c/h/e/chellew.shtml
4. Chellew Surname Message Board http://www.familyhistory.com/messages/messages.asp?category=surname&forum=CHELLEW

This page is maintained by Nev Meek at chellew.genealogy@yahoo.co.uk

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