William Reid in Midsomer Norton for their education; but Chisholm, suffering from rheumatic fever, was moved to Clifton, Weymouth, Malvern and Bath – two of them spa towns, all associated with 'taking the cure'.
James S. M. Anderson (1800–1869), Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen, residing in Brighton, until, in October 1828, Alexander went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he entered under the tuition of the Rev.
[4] In 1831, aged 21 and coming into his majority, Chisholm relocated to Invernessshire and Erchless Castle after an absence, short visits aside, of 14 years; and assumed direct control of his estate from his guardians.
[1] In 1831, he determined to take "an active part in plans for ameliorating" the condition of the people on his properties; however the said amelioration took the form of evicting a large number of the ancient tenantry of his forebears in accordance with - as a biographer terms it -" the mistaken views which then so extensively prevailed of improving the condition of the Highland people by clearing them out of their native glens to make room for sheep and deer.
"[1] Chisholm added insult to injury, arranging for all of his tenants, anxious about impending expirations of their tenancies, to meet on a certain day at the Inn of Cannich in the expectation that he would announce the terms of renewals.
It later transpired that Chisholm had let "the best farms and the best grazing lands" to "shepherds from other countries, leaving half the number of the native population without house and home.
[1] His Parliamentary duties, however, proved too much for his delicate constitution, and finding himself obliged to be often absent from the House on account of the state of his health, he, in the following spring, determined to resign his seat, and this resolution he intimated to his supporters in an address dated, London, May the 18th, 1838.
Chisholm remained at Erchless until, on the 1 August 1838, he had occasion to go to Inverness on business, where he was seized, in the Caledonian Hotel, with the sudden illness which shortly afterwards terminated his life.