Chisholm

Feros Ferio - I am fierce with the fierce

Chisholm Tartan
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Chisholm Tartan

A name associated with the Barony of Chisholm, which had lands to the south of the Borthwick Water in Roxburghshire, deriving either from 'Cheeseholm' meaning simply a meadow which produces cheese, or from 'Chese' the Norman French word for 'choose'. Alexander de Chesholm witnessed a charter c.1248, while the name of John de Chesehelme is mentioned in a letter from Pope Alexander IV in 1254. The name also became associated with Inverness-shire, when Sir Robert Chisholm was appointed Constable of Urquhart Castle in 1359, and his eldest son gave rise to the Chisholms of Erchless Castle. A branch also became established at Cromlix in Perthshire, the lands here passing to the Drummonds through marriage in the 16th century. In the 17th century, the clan chiefs became Protestants, but they supported the Jacobites in 1715 and 1745.

Notable members of the family include the Cleveland steel manufacturing brothers Henry Chisholm (1822-81) and William Chisholm (1825 - 1908), geographer George Goudie Chisholm (1850 - 1930), Glasgow Lord Provost Sir Samuel Chisholm (1836 - 1923), composer Erik Chisholm (1904-65) and jazz musician George Chisholm (1915-97).


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