CHALMERS A name derived from the office of chamberlain to the king. Herbetus, whose family appears to have held lands in Ayr and Lanarkshire was 'camerarius regis scotiae,' or Great Chamberlain of Scotland, from 1124 to 1153. His family posessed the barony of Gadgirth from that time and Nisbet comments that they assumed the name De Camera, in the same manner as the family of the Great Stewards assumed that of Stewart when they ascended to the throne, alluding to the office of their original dynastic founder. James Chalmer of Gadgirth was a fervent Protestant reformer, admired even by his fellow reformer John Knox for his zeal. The name is also found in Aberdeenshire, where the Chalmers of Balnacraig and those of Cults and Aldbar are believed to have sprung from entirely separate stock from their Ayrshire namesakes.

These families also played a prominent part in public affairs. Major General Sir William Chalmers, a distinguished soldier, is reputed to have had three horses killed under him at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Dr. Thomas Chalmers, born in 1780, was one of the most influential theological writers of his time. He was appointed Professor of Divinty at Edinburgh in 1828 and he became the first moderator of the Free Church of Scotland after the Disruption of 1843, when the Church of Scotland split in two. He sought to apply Christian ethics to economic issues and worked to relieve need among the urban poor. A splendid statue of him stands in Princes Street in Edinburgh.

From the same book under the surname Young there is further reference to Chalmers of Aldbar

The family (referring to the family of Sir Peter Young - knighted in Whitehall 16th February 1605) sold their original estate at Easter Seton and purchsed the lands of Auldbar in 1670. In 1743 the estates were sold to William Chalmers of Hazlehead who was related to the Youngs by marriage.