Caroline Chisholm did not travel her path to holiness alone. While she was aware of a call to serve others before her marriage to Archibald and had reservations about how this call might affect marriage and family life, Archibald reassured Caroline that in marrying her he would also support her work in whatever manner he was able.
It was through marriage to Archibald Chisholm that Caroline Jones, an evangelical Protestant, converted to Catholicism.
Caroline undertook her early work with the single women of Sydney while Archibald was in China in the active service of the East India Company and Caroline was responsible for the care of their three small children. She had attempted to keep the children with her in Sydney, but the conditions and the presence of diseases such as cholera forced her to send the children to their home in Windsor where she had the assistance of Miss Galvin as a nanny. This separation was heart wrenching for Caroline.
On Captain Chisholm’s return to Sydney he accompanied her on a tour of NSW collecting testimonies from happily settled immigrants with the purpose of taking these to England to encourage further immigration to Australia. A fourth child was born on board ship as they returned to England. It was a difficult birth and almost caused the death of mother and child. Another two children were born in England.
In England they established the Family Colonisation Loan Society, which brought together prospective immigrants, arranged loans, and acquainted them with information regarding their endeavours. Meetings of migrant families took place in the Chisholm family home with the assistance of Caroline’s mother and their eldest son. The Society chartered ships which were fitted out to Caroline’s specification. Unable to afford to pay an Australian agent, Archibald undertook to return to Australia to meet the ships of the Society. The family were reunited three years later and settled in Kyneton in Victoria. By this time the gold rush was underway and Caroline undertook the construction of shelter sheds along the road from Melbourne to the Mount Alexander goldfields. These were rudimentary buildings which provided shelter and cooking facilities for women and children travelling to join their husbands on the goldfields.
Caroline suffered serious kidney problems and for health reasons they were advised to move to the warmer climate of Sydney. It was here that Caroline established a school for girls as a means of gaining an income. They had sold Archibald’s commission to fund the establishment of their eldest son in business, but the business endeavour failed with the death of their son in Kyneton.
In addition to any government grants, the Chisholms used their own personal means to assist their work. At the end of their lives, Caroline and Archibald lived in relative anonymity and poverty on a pension of ₤100.
Caroline’s work could only have been successful with a supportive husband.