Isobel, Lady Barnett (born Isobel Morag Marshall; 30 June 1918 – 20 October 1980), was a Scottish radio and television personality, who had her highest profile during the 1950s and 1960s.

Early life

Isobel Barnett was born Isobel Morag Marshall on 30 June 1918 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland, the daughter of a

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

, Robert McNab Marshall, and Jane Minty. Her father was a respected physician in Glasgow who was serving in the army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

at the time of her birth and her mother went to her parents' home in Aberdeen where Barnett was born. She attended the

Laurel Bank School Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mu ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and the independent Mount School in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. Following in her father's footsteps, she studied medicine at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and qualified as a doctor in 1940. She worked as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

where she met and, in 1941, married solicitor and company director Geoffrey Barnett, later Lord Mayor of Leicester, who was knighted for political and public services to the city of Leicester in 1953. Lady Barnett gave up her medical career in 1948, and for the next 20 years was a Justice of the Peace.

Radio and television

In 1953 Barnett arrived on BBC television as one of the panel of ''What's My Line?'', which made her a household name. She appeared on the programme for ten years but was not an original panelist, her seat having been previously occupied by

Marghanita Laski Marghanita Laski (24 October 1915 – 6 February 1988) was an English journalist, radio panellist and novelist. She also wrote literary biography, plays and short stories, and contributed about 250,000 additions to the ''Oxford English Diction ...

. She was regarded by audiences as elegant and witty, the epitome of the British

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

, although her title actually came from the fact that her

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

husband had been knighted; the form ''Lady Barnett'' suggested she possessed a

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

, but she was not an aristocrat, nor had she married into the aristocracy. She also made regular appearances on the BBC radio series ''

Any Questions ''Any Questions?'' is a British topical discussion programme "in which a panel of personalities from the worlds of politics, media, and elsewhere are posed questions by the audience". It is typically broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 20: ...

'', on the radio panel game '' Many a Slip'' and on the women's discussion series ''

Petticoat Line ''Petticoat Line'' was an all-woman panel show on the BBC Home Service (from 1967 this became BBC Radio 4) chaired by Anona Winn which discussed listeners' letters and problems. It started on 6 January 1965 and ran for 11 years. It was devised by ...

''. She was greatly in demand as an

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

, a role into which she slipped confidently. In 1956, a reviewer predicted that an alien visiting from another planet could ask anyone between the ages of seven and 70 "What is ''What's my Line?''" and "Who is Isobel Barnett?" and be confident of getting an answer. She featured in the first revival of ''What's My Line?'' which ran for two series from 1973 to 1974.

Later life and death

In her last years Barnett became reclusive and eccentric. In 1980 she was found guilty of

shoplifting Shoplifting (also known as shop theft, shop fraud, retail theft, or retail fraud) is the theft of goods from a retail establishment during business hours. The terms ''shoplifting'' and ''shoplifter'' are not usually defined in law, and genera ...

, and fined £75 for stealing a can of tuna and a carton of cream worth 87 pence from her village grocer. This brought her briefly back into the public eye; four days later on 20 October, she was found dead at her home in

Cossington, Leicestershire Cossington is a village within the Soar Valley in Leicestershire, England. It is between Sileby, Rothley, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake and Syston. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 598. The village's name means 'farm/settl ...

. A

coroner's inquest A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

subsequently ruled that Barnett killed herself with an overdose of painkillers in her bath. During the inquest, police testified that she wore an extra spacious pocket, known as a ''poacher's pocket'', inside her coat when she was caught stealing the groceries. Two days before her death, Lady Barnett told an interviewer she was a compulsive thief and had been shoplifting for years. Finding that Barnett, a trained physician, killed herself deliberately with an overdose of arthritis painkiller, the coroner, Guy Tooze, said, "She had recently suffered one of the most traumatic experiences any woman could suffer". Tooze went on to say, "I am satisfied she took a fatal overdose deliberately and knew what she was doing". Barnett's story was recounted by several of her friends and colleagues in a 1991

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

documentary in the ''Radio Lives'' series, in which it was said that she gave no indication to any of her friends that she was planning to take her own life, and that she kept up a façade of "business as usual".

Personal life

Barnett had one son, Alastair (who died 31 March 2020 aged 77).Daily Telegraph 8 April 2020, p32, col E Her husband died in 1970. Her autobiography, ''My Life Line'', was published in 1956.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Isobel 1918 births 1980 suicides Alumni of the University of Glasgow British television personalities Mass media people from Aberdeen Drug-related suicides in England People educated at The Mount School, York People from Cossington, Leicestershire 1980 deaths