Sir Alexander Colyear, 1st Baronet

Sir Alexander Colyear, 1st Baronet (born Robertson alias Colyear) ( – ) was a Scottish gentleman who lived most of his life in the Netherlands. He was created a baronet in the Baronetage of England in 1677 and is the ancestor of the Earls of Portmore in the peerage of Scotland.

Early life Colyear was born in , a son of Jean Bruce (–1671) and David Robertson, also known by the surname Colyear, of Strowan, Perthshire. The family's alternative surname has also been spelled as Colyer, Colyear, Coljer, Collier, Colier, Coleyer, and Cauleyer.

Personal life

Colyear was married to Jean Murray, a daughter of Lt.-Col. Walter Murray, a son of Sir John Murray of Blackbarony and Jean Balfour. Together, they were the parents of several children, including: Field Marshal of the Dutch Infantry and Governor of Namur in 1718; he married Alida Rhijnsburg van Leyden van Leeuwen, a daughter of Dirck van Leyden van Leeuwen, mayor and alderman of Leiden.

Through his second son, Walter, he was a grandfather of Mary Anne Colyear (1683–1754), the wife of Johann Reinhard von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels, and of Elizabeth Colyear (–1768), who became the wife of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. Elizabeth came to court as a Maid of honour to Queen Anne, a position she inherited from her aunt Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester.