Kellard

This is almost certainly a surname of medieval English origins. The listing by the International Genealogical Index suggests that Kellard and Callard may have the same root of the French word "cail" meaning timid, and hence a nickname, but our researches indicate completely diffent origins. Whilst Callard is definately French and Huguenot, is usually recorded in its home country as Caillard or Cailleaux, and is not recorded in England until 1621, Kellard is recorded in the diocese of Greater London in Elizabethan times. This is well before any known Huguenot or foreign influence, and proof of this is shown in the early English recordings. In our opinion Kellard derives from the Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) word "kehl" meaning a narrow valley, and also used as a personal name in the spelling of Kell. To this has been added the agent suffix of -(h)ard, which is generally taken to mean strong and hardy, as in the surnames Billard or Richard. However the early spelling of Kellareth as shown below may suggest a locational origin, although no such place spelling is to be found in any gazetter. What is known is that the destruction of the monasteries by King Henry V111 in 1537 and their unique libraries, ruined what little education existed. As a result surname spellings became subject to platonic or "sounds like" forms, in some cases to the point where the original spelling is quite lost. In this case early examples of the surname recordings in surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London include: Richard Kellareth, whose son Henry was christened at St Andrews Undershaft, in the ancient city of London, on September 28th 1573, Matthew Killyard, christened at St Andrews church, Holborn, on January 31st 1758, and John Kellard, a witness at St Lukes church, Finsbury, on February 2nd 1829.