James Balfour (10 May 1830 – 24 August 1913) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n merchant and politician, member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

1866 to 1868 and of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

from 1874 to 1913.

Early life

Balfour was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, son of John and Robina, ''née'' Gordon . He was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. Balfour had some commercial experience in London from 1849 to 1852.

Australia

Balfour arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1852 as the representative of Messrs. Matheson, of

Lombard Street, London Lombard Street () is a street notable for its connections with the City of London's merchant, banking and insurance industries, stretching back to medieval times. From Bank junction, where nine streets converge by the Bank of England, Lombard ...

, to the firm of

James Henty James Henty (24 September 1800 – 12 January 1882), was pioneer, merchant and politician in colonial Australia. Early life James Henty was the eldest son of Thomas Henty, a wealthy English land-owner and banker from Tarring, West Sussex. He w ...

& Co. In 1854 he opened a branch house of the latter firm at

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. He visited England in 1857–58, resigned his position in Geelong in 1863, and in 1866 entered the

as the member for East Bourke. He was for three years one of the Commissioners of Education prior to the organisation of the department under a responsible minister. In 1868, he made another visit to England, prior to which he resigned his seat in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, and returned to Australia and entered the

in 1874, being re-elected for the

South Eastern Province South Eastern Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council from November 1882. It was created in the redistribution of provinces in 1882 when the original provinces of Central and Eastern were abolished. The new South Eastern, ...

on 17 August 1880. He made another trip home in 1878, and on his return established the firm of Balfour, Elliott, & Co., which was made into a limited company in 1887. Mr. Balfour he was a member of the

Melbourne Chamber of Commerce The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest and most influential not-for-profit business organisation in Victoria, informing and supporting 47,000 members and clients across the state. Founded in 1851 with headquarters in Melb ...

and served as its President and Vice-President. He acted on the Irrigation and Water Supply, and on the Banking Laws Commissions; was Chairman of the Australian Deposit and Mortgage Bank, Limited, and of the Equitable Assurance Company of the United States, and Vice-Chairman of the Trustees, Executors, and Agency Company, Limited, and was a member of the Council of

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. Hi ...

. He was a member of the

Australian Club The Australian Club is a private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it is the oldest gentlemen's club in the southern hemisphere. "The Club provides excellent dining facilities, ...

in Melbourne and has an entry in Burke’s ''A Geneaoligical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry'' (London, 1891 & 1895). He was involved in land speculation in Melbourne in the 1880s in association with Sir Matthew Davies. When the crash came, in 1892, he lost a great deal of money and narrowly avoided sequestration. He carefully rebuilt up his fortunes in the years that followed. In 1859, he married Frances Charlotte, eldest daughter of Hon. James Henty, M.L.C. They had 11 children, nine of whom survived him. Balfour was a member of the Gillies Government without portfolio from May 1890 till its resignation in November that year. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Southern Province from June 1874 to November 1882; South-Western Province November 1882 to May 1904; and

East Yarra Province East Yarra Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both h ...

from June 1904 to August 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, James 1830 births 1913 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Victorian Ministers for the Environment People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Politicians from Edinburgh Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Businesspeople from Edinburgh Businesspeople from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne 19th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians