The son of Adam Nisbet and Elizabeth Hay, daughter of the
3rd Lord Hay, he became a
textile merchant,
haberdasher and
clothier in Edinburgh. In 1587 he supplied Ambassador
Eustache de Courcelles with violet crimson velvet for his attendants' clothes, mourning cloth at death of
Mary, Queen of Scots, a
beaver hat, silk points and ribbon for the Ambassador's shoes, and other
court dress. Nisbet also advanced the
French ambassador large sums of money. Acting as an
envoy, Nisbet delivered
royal letters to
Charles IX of France in April 1583 requesting tax relief for Scottish merchants, and then HM letter in reply to
Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox. Nisbet served as
Provost of Edinburgh for 1597/98. In July 1598 Nisbet was a member of a committee of lawyers and ministers including
Sir John Preston of Fentonbarns,
the Revd Robert Rollock and
John Russell who devised a syllabus for the
University of Edinburgh comprising readings from Latin authors. Resident in an
Edinburgh townhouse on the
High Street, in 1609 his son bought from the estate of
Lord Lindsay the
feudal barony of
Dean just west of Edinburgh, where the Nisbets built a mansion which survived until the 19c, and is now where the
Dean Cemetery is situated. The
National Museum of Scotland has
painted ceiling fragments from the gallery of Dean House depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac, Judith, and other subjects. The paintings may date from the time of his son, Sir William Nisbet. A carved pediment for a window was inscribed; "H. N." for Henry Nisbet displaying the Nisbet arms, and a stone panel with "I. B." and the
Bellenden arms for his wife, Janet Bellenden. After Henry Nisbet died in 1608, his sons obtained permission from the Burgh to erect a monument in his memory. ==Family==