Chisholm-Batten

The present owners of the Chisholm Burial Ground site are Nick and Sara Chisholm-Batten.  Nick is a direct descendent of Jemima Chisholm (1817-1883), third child and only daughter of William XXIV (1763-1817).  A deed of entail from 1777, designed to perpetuate male succession, led to William being chief at the expense of his late brother’s daughter Mary.

When William died in 1817, he was succeeded by his eldest son Alexander William XXV (1810-1838) who died unmarried and without a male heir.  He in turn was succeeded by his brother Duncan MacDonell XXVI (1811-1858) who also was a lifelong bachelor.

Jemima was disbarred by the entail, and the estates and title passed to James Sutherland XXVII (1806-1885) a descendant of the Muchrachd branch of the family.  In 1843, she married Edmund Batten of Thornfalcon in Somerset, and on the death of Duncan MacDonnel in 1858, purchased the unentailed Chisholm owned Aigas Estate (purchased 1820s).  At the same time, she and her husband assumed the surname Chisholm before that of Batten by Royal license, hence Chisholm-Batten.

The entail basically stated that if the Chisholm line ceased as it did with the two bachelor brothers and if the male line was broken, as happened on the death of James Sutherland’s unmarried son Roderick XXVIII in 1887, it would go back to Mary’s line.

However, the Sutherlands earlier broke the entail and left the lands to Roderick’s mother, Annie Cecilia, and then his two sisters.  The Chieftainship continued with Mary’s line although there was some discord as normally the Chieftainship followed the land.

In her will, Annie Cecilia who died in 1905, left the estates to her two daughters and directed that if they died without heirs, as they duly did, the estates passed to descendants of Jemima Chisholm-Batten as happened in 1935.

However, by this time Death Duties had come about. When Edmund Chisholm-Batten, great grandfather of present owner, inherited the Chisholm Estates he had to pay two sets of death duties, as the last surviving sister had died before the first sister’s death duties were paid.

It seems Edmund had little choice but to sell either the Scottish estates or Thorn (his estate in Somerset) to raise the necessary money. They chose to keep Thorn.

The family did not sell Aigas until a little later – perhaps soon after WWII. But of course, kept the Chisholm Burial Ground.