About the Australia Branch: Membership and History
The Australia Branch of The Clan Chisholm Society comprises a current membership of 93. These members are scattered around the country with the largest number on the East coast. While many live in the big city areas (particularly Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria), there are also many members who live in the country, rural areas of the seven states as shown on the membership table and map.
The Clan Chisholm Society started in Australia in 1954. Miriam Chisholm, of "Kippilaw", Goulburn, NSW was the founder of the society here, having joined the Society in Scotland. She organised the first meeting in May 1954 in Sydney with Professor Alan Rowland Chisholm elected as the first president. A Victorian branch was formed later and later again amalgamated with the NSW branch.
Our clan has had many get-togethers over the years and meets annually for its AGM. For some years now this has been in March of each year. We tend to alternate our meetings between NSW and Victoria, often meeting at Goulburn, south west of Sydney, where the first Chisholm settler pioneered a sheep property in the 1830s. Many members, including Miriam Chisholm, are descendants of James Chisholm, the patriarch of this family who arrived at Sydney Town in 1790 as a military officer just two years after the initial British settlement.
Some highlights in the life of the Society in Australia have been the building of a cairn of stones from Chisholm connections all over the world. The first dedication was in 1963, and the cairn was finally completed and re-dedicated in 2002 (click photo to enlarge).
Another highlight was the launch of a book "The Clan Chisholm in Australia 1790-1990" in 1990. Celebrating 200 years of Chisholms in Australia, many Australian Chisholms submitted stories of their family’s emigration and settlement in this country. The launch was held at "Gledswood", Narellan, NSW, on the outskirts of Sydney. This property was also one of the original farms of the first Chisholm settler (James Chisholm), comprising a beautiful old homestead, garden and farm (now a vineyard).