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Surnames: Challis
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/GQI.2ACEB/19.2
Message Board Post:
Hello Chris,
One of the 8,000+ with the surname Challis in the UK!! Just wondering how far you've
got with your research?
My Challis connection is paternal greatgrandmother's maiden name (Grandfather changed
it to this from his German surname in 1926).
We're all Londoners anyway - the majority of Challis live in Essex/ London: I believe
this is due to them being French Hugenot refugees (17th Century) from Pas de Calais in
Northern France - also after the local range of mountains shaped like a staircase
"L'Escalier" - and were weavers, hence the woollen(?) material Challis.
My GReat grandparents were Edwin Challis m Sarah Holloway, lived 81 Pratt Street, Camden,
London (1881) with children Elizabeth (Ggm), Edwin, Ada Elizabeth and at least one other.
Best wishes
Hille Cook