Alexander Balfour (2 September 1824 – 16 April 1886) was a Scottish merchant and founder of the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

shipping company Balfour Williamson.

Biography

Balfour was born in

Leven Leven may refer to: People * Leven (name), list of people with the name Nobility * Earl of Leven a title in the Peerage of Scotland Placenames * Leven, Fife Leven ( gd, Inbhir Lìobhann) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, the son of Henry Balfour, a foundry owner. He was educated at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...

and

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, and in 1844 moved to Liverpool, where in 1851 he founded Balfour Williamson with

Stephen Williamson Stephen Williamson (28 June 1827 – 16 June 1903) was a founder of the Liverpool shipping company Balfour Williamson & Co. and a Scottish Liberal Party politician. He was born in Cellardyke, Fife in 1827, the son of Archibald Williamson, a s ...

and David Duncan. He was a committed

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, and founded the Duke Street Home, to provide better conditions for sailors, and orphanages for seamen's children. He co-founded

Edge Hill University Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male st ...

(then Edge Hill College) in 1885, the first

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

teacher training college for women in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. There is a Halls of Residence called Balfour in his honour. He bought a country estate at Mount Alyn, at

Rossett Rossett ( cy, Yr Orsedd ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Rossett is served by the A483 road. At the time of the 2001 census, Rossett community (including Rossett itself and the villages of Bur ...

, south of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. He died there in 1886. There is a statue of him by

Albert Bruce-Joy Albert Bruce-Joy (21 August 1842 – 22 July 1924) was an Irish sculptor working in England. His original surname was Joy but he became known under his hyphenated name Bruce-Joy later in life. He was the brother of the painter George W. Joy. ...

in St John's Gardens, Liverpool. His daughter Margaret married

Thomas Arthur Nelson Thomas Arthur Nelson Mentioned in Dispatches, MID (22 September 1876 – 9 April 1917) was a Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland international rugby union player. He later became a book publisher in his family's firm of Thomas Nelson (pu ...

References

*Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Methil Heritage website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Alexander People from Leven, Fife British businesspeople in shipping 1824 births 1886 deaths People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of the University of St Andrews Businesspeople from Liverpool 19th-century English businesspeople