Edmund Chisholm Batten (sometimes written Chisholm-Batten)

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...

(1817-1897) was an antiquarian and author of legal treatises.

Life

He was born Edmund Batten in 1817 at Kingston near

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, the son of John Batten. He was educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors ...

, where he was Head Boy, and then sent north to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to train as a barrister. Here he became a friend of Prof

James David Forbes James David Forbes (1809–1868) was a Scottish physicist and glaciologist who worked extensively on the conduction of heat and seismology. Forbes was a resident of Edinburgh for most of his life, educated at its University and a professor ...

, a relationship which lasted for life. On qualifying he went to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to serve as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. However, he is largely remembered as an author on both legal proceedings and upon historical places (especially priories). He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1858. Through an ancestor, Robert Batten, he inherited the

Thornfalcon __NOTOC__ Thornfalcon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated east of Taunton. The village has a population of 119. The parish includes the hamlet of Ash. The name comes from Thorn, and the personal name Fagun (now Falcon) wh ...

Estate and lived there for most of his life. He also (through his wife) inherited

Erchless Castle Erchless Castle is an L-plan castle in northern Scotland, near Struy, Highland. The current building was built in about 1600.Beauly Beauly ( ; ; gd, A' Mhanachainn) is a village in the Highland area, on the River Beauly, west of Inverness by the Far North railway line. The town is historically within Kilmorack Parish of the Scottish County of Inverness. The land around ...

, west of

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

. He died at

on 13 February 1897 and is buried in the local churchyard there.

Publications

*''A Practical Treatise of Law Relating to the Specific Performance of Contracts'' *''A Treatise on the Jurisdiction, Pleadings and Practice of the County Courts in Equity'' *''The Charters Priory of Priory'' *''The Charters of the Priory of Beauly'' *''On the Cause of the Heat in the Bath Waters'' (1878) *''The Register of Richard Fox While Bishop of Bath and Wells'' (1894)

Family

On 1 August 1843 he married Jemima Chisholm, sister of the Chisholm clan chief, Roderick Chisholm, usually referred to simply as "The Chisholm". From 1858, on the death of the clan chief, his sister inherited all titles and estates and from thence onward he was known as Edmund Chisholm Batten. From 1858 until 1896 he made annual trips to the Highlands of Scotland with his wife, in the role of visiting the

Clan Chisholm Clan Chisholm (pronounced / ˈtʃɪzəm/ ) ( gd, Siosal, IPA: �ʃis̪əɫ̪ is a Highland Scottish clan. History Origins According to Alexander Mackenzie, the Clan Chisholm is of Norman and Saxon origin. Tradition stating that the Chisholms w ...

. They had seven children of whom the most notable was the youngest, who rose to be Admiral

Alexander William Chisholm-Batten Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

(1851-1925).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batten, Edmund Chisholm 1817 births 1897 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at Sherborne School People from South Somerset (district) British antiquarians