Chee Surname HistoryChee is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Chee family once lived in or near either of the settlements called Cheadle in the counties of Cheshire and Staffordshire. Cheetle is a "parish, in the union of Wimborne and Cranborne, hundred of Moncktonup-Wimborne, Wimborne division of Dorset." 1 Chee belongs to the class of habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Early Origins of the Chee familyThe surname Chee was first found in Cheshire at Cheadle, a parish, partly in the union of Stockport, and partly in that of Altrincham, hundred of Macclesfield. "The village, situated near the Mersey, is remarkable for the beauty and salubrity of its situation, and its neat appearance." 1 In Staffordshire, Cheadle is a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow. 1 Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time. Hobbe de Chedel was found at Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1297; Agnes de Chedle in the Assize Rolls for Staffordshire in 1356; John Chetel was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379; Wilson Chetill in Dorset in 1546; and William Chettle in Somerset in 1641. 2 "There is a Dorset parish [named Cheetle]; and an ancient family of Chettle held property in Blandford St. Mary, Dorset, during the 16th and 17th centuries." 3 Early History of the Chee familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chee research. Another 102 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1592 and 1607 are included under the topic Early Chee History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Chee Spelling VariationsSound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Chee family name include Cheadle, Chedel, Cheade, Cheatle, Cheddle, Cheatley, Chedle, Chettle and many more. Early Notables of the Chee familyNotables of this surname at this time include: Henry Chettle (d. 1607?), English dramatist and pamphleteer, son of Robert Chettle, a dyer of London. "Chettle first comes... Chee RankingIn the United States, the name Chee is the 6,660th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 4 Migration of the Chee familyFor political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Chee surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Margaret and William Cheadle settled in Virginia in 1663; Ann Cheade also settled in Virginia in that year, probably the daughter.
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