Earl of Balfour is a title in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the ...

. It was created in 1922 for

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

from 1902 to 1905 and

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

from 1916 to 1919. The earldom was created with special remainder, failing male issue of his own, to: # his younger brother, the Right Honourable Gerald William Balfour, and the heirs male of his body, failing which to # his nephew Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour and the heirs male of his body, and failing which to # his nephew Oswald Herbert Campbell Balfour and the heirs male of his body. The latter two were the sons of his deceased youngest brother Colonel Eustace James Anthony Balfour. Balfour was made Viscount Traprain, of

Whittingehame Whittingehame is a parish with a small village in East Lothian, Scotland, about halfway between Haddington and Dunbar, and near East Linton. The area is on the slopes of the Lammermuir Hills. Whittingehame Tower dates from the 15th century an ...

in the County of Haddington, at the same time as he was given the earldom. This title is also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created with similar remainder. Balfour never married, and was succeeded according to the special remainders by his younger brother Gerald, the second Earl. He was also a Conservative politician and notably served as Chief Secretary for Ireland, as

President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...

and as

President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the ...

. This line of the family failed on the death of his grandson, the fourth Earl, in 2003. the titles are held by his second cousin once removed, the fifth Earl. He is the grandson of the aforementioned Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour, nephew of the first Earl. The family seat is Burpham Lodge, near

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Earl of Balfour (1922)

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

(1848–1930) * Gerald William Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour (1853–1945) * Robert Arthur Lytton Balfour, 3rd Earl of Balfour (1902–1968) *

Gerald Arthur James Balfour, 4th Earl of Balfour Gerald Arthur James Balfour, 4th Earl of Balfour (23 December 1925 – 27 June 2003), styled Viscount Traprain between 1945 and 1968, was a British peer. Balfour was the son of The 3rd Earl of Balfour and Jean Lily West Roundel Cooke-Yarborough ...

(1925–2003) * Roderick Francis Arthur Balfour, 5th Earl of Balfour (born 1948) The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

is the present holder's brother, the Hon. Charles George Yule Balfour (born 1951).
The heir presumptive's

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is his son, George Eustace Charles Balfour (born 1991).

Male-line family tree

Line of succession

* ''

James Maitland Balfour James Maitland Balfour (5 January 1820 – 23 February 1856) was a Scottish land-owner and businessman. He made a fortune in the 19th-century railway boom, and inherited a significant portion of his father's great wealth. He was a Conservative ...

(1820–1856)'' ** ''

(1848–1930)'' ** '' Gerald William Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour (1853–1945)'' *** '' Robert Arthur Lytton Balfour, 3rd Earl of Balfour (1902–1968)'' **** ''

(1925–2003)'' ** ''Col. Eustace James Anthony Balfour (1854–1911)'' *** ''Lt. Col. Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour (1884–1965)'' **** ''Eustace Arthur Goschen Balfour (1921–2000)'' ***** Roderick Francis Arthur Balfour, 5th Earl of Balfour (born 1948) ***** (1) ''Hon.'' Charles George Yule Balfour (born 1951) ****** (2) George Eustace Charles Balfour (born 1991)

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour Earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

Earls Noble titles created in 1922 Noble titles created for UK MPs