John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross

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The Lord Kinross
Lord Justice General
In office
1899–1905
MonarchsVictoria
Edward VII
Preceded byJames Robertson
Succeeded byAndrew Graham Murray
Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross
In office
29 April 1880 – December 1899
Preceded bySir William Adam
Succeeded byEugene Wason
Personal details
Born
John Blair Balfour

(1837-07-11)11 July 1837
Clackmannan, Scotland
Died22 January 1905(1905-01-22) (aged 67)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Spouses
Lilias Oswald Mackenzie
(m. 1869, died)
Hon. Marianne Eliza Moncrieff
(after 1877)
Children6
Parent(s)Peter Balfour
Jane Ramsay Blair
EducationEdinburgh Academy
Alma materEdinburgh University

John Blair Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross PC DL (born 11 July 1837 – 22 January 1905) was a Scottish lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1899.

Early life[edit]

Balfour was born in the manse at Clackmannan, the son of Rev. Peter Balfour ("Perpendicular Peter"),[1] minister of Clackmannan and his wife Jane Ramsay Blair, daughter of John Blair.

He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and then studied law at Edinburgh University, becoming an advocate of the Scottish bar in 1861.

Career[edit]

"the Lord Advocate"
Balfour as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, May 1886

He served as Advocate Depute from 1870 to 1872, and in 1880 was made a Queen's Counsel. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for Edinburgh.[2]

At the 1880 general election, Balfour stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Ayrshire North but in a by election six months later was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross.[3]

He was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in 1880 and in 1881 he succeeded this appointment by becoming Lord Advocate, a post he held for four years. In 1882 he became a Privy Counsellor.[3] He served as the elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates twice: from 1885 to 1886, and from 1889 to 1892.[4]

In 1892, on the return of the Liberals to power, Balfour was again appointed Lord Advocate, finally resigning on the fall of Lord Rosebery's government in 1895. In 1899 he was appointed Lord Justice General of Scotland and Lord President of the Court of Session.

In the 1902 Coronation Honours list it was announced that he would receive a barony,[5] and on 15 July 1902 he was created Baron Kinross, of Glascune in the County of Haddingtonshire.[6][3] He took the oath and his seat in the House of Lords the following month, on 7 August.[7]

Personal life[edit]

6 Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh (left)
Baron Kinross monument, Dean Cemetery

On 4 August 1869 Balfour married Lilias Oswald Mackenzie daughter of Donald Mackenzie, styled Lord Mackenzie, a Lord of Session, and Janet Alice Mitchell. They had one son who lived with the family and was trained as an advocate:[8]

After the death of his first wife, he married secondly the Hon. Marianne Eliza Moncrieff in 1877.[10] Marianne was a daughter of James Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff.[3] Together, they were the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter, including:[11]

  • Hon. James Moncreiffe Balfour (1878–1960), who married Madeline Maude Graham Watson, daughter of James Graham Watson (brother-in-law of Sir Robert Tuite Boothby), in 1908.[8]
  • Hon. John Ramsay Blair Balfour (1881–1964), a Lt.-Cdr. in the Royal Navy who died unmarried.[8]
  • Hon. Harry Robert Chichester Balfour (1882–1964), who married Dorothy Constance Chetwynd, a daughter of Henry Goulburn Willoughby Chetwynd and Eva Constance Elizabeth Fanny Berney, in 1921.[8]
  • Hon. Norman Frederick William Balfour (1884–1954), the Vicar of Leafield who died unmarried.[8]
  • Hon. Isobel Nora Gwendoline Balfour (1885–1961), who married Capt. Percival Henry Havelock Bailey, in 1908.[8]

Lord Kinross died 22 January 1905, at his home at 6 Rothesay Terrace[12] in Edinburgh, and was buried in the "Lords Row" in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. His descendants are buried with him. [3]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Sands, Christopher Nicholson Johnston (1919). Dr. Archibald Scott of St. George's, Edinburgh, and his times. Robarts - University of Toronto. Edinburgh, Blackwood.
  2. ^ Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
  3. ^ a b c d e Omond 1912.
  4. ^ 'KINROSS', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 Retrieved 18 Oct 2017
  5. ^ "The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  6. ^ "No. 27455". The London Gazette. 18 July 1902. p. 4587.
  7. ^ "The Parliament - House of Lords". The Times. No. 36841. London. 8 August 1902. p. 4.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1921. p. 1285. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  9. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1900
  10. ^ "Sitter: Hon Mrs Balfour". Lafayette Negative Archive.
  11. ^ Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland, for ...: Including All the Titled Classes. S. Low, Marston & Company. 1907. p. 1041. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  12. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1900

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross
1880–1899
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Solicitor General for Scotland
1880–1881
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Advocate
1881–1885
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Advocate
1886
Preceded by Lord Advocate
1892–1895
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Justice General
1899–1905
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Kinross
1902–1905
Succeeded by
Patrick Balfour