Isobel Colt

Isobel Colt was the nurse of Robert Stuart, Duke of Kintyre and Lorne, a son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark.^[1]

Isobel Colt was a servant at Dunfermline Palace

She may have been a daughter of an Edinburgh lawyer Oliver Colt and his wife Isobel Henryson, who was a daughter of Edinburgh merchant Thomas Henryson.^[2]

Isobel Colt was the wife of Patrick Smith, an Edinburgh lawyer and writer to the signet. Women in early modern Scotland did not change their surnames on marriage.^[3][4]

For the baptism of Duke Robert at Dunfermline Abbey on 2 May 1601, Isobel Colt was given new clothes including, taffeta from Tours for her gown, black velvet for a skirt and to border the gown, and black velvet for a "mutch" to wear on her head.^[5]

She was dismissed shortly before the death of Duke Robert, as it was thought a change of nurse would improve his health. Isobel was given £200 Scots as a reward for her service by the English courtier Roger Aston on 25 May 1602. The payment was witnessed by John Buchanan, who later married Margaret Hartsyde, a servant of Anne of Denmark.^[6]