In 1877, she married pastoralist William Alexander Chisholm, a widower (died 1902); the couple had five children (three sons and two daughters); two of whom predeceased their mother.

She travelled to Egypt to be closer to him; when she arrived she noticed the lack of facilities for the troops and established a canteen in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis largely at her own expense.

The Kantara canteen expanded to include dormitories and dining rooms and eventually had the capacity to handle thousands of men.

She helped found the Returned and Services League of Australia in Goulburn and she was active in the Country Women's Association and RSPCA.

[citation needed] Survived by two sons and a daughter, she died at her home in West Pennant Hills on 30 May 1954, aged 97 years and 11 months, and was buried in the Church of England cemetery at Kippilaw, near Goulburn.