John Blair Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross (11 July 1837 – 22 January 1905) 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 ...

lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1899.

Early life

Balfour was born in the manse at Clackmannan, the son of Rev. Peter Balfour ("Perpendicular Peter"), 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 An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

of the Scottish

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in 1861.

Career

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.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref> At the 1880 general election, Balfour stood unsuccessfully for parliament at

Ayrshire North North Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until 1918. It returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (M ...

but in a by election six months later was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for

Clackmannan and Kinross Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918. From 1708 to 1832 Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire had been paired as ''alternating constituencies'': on ...

. 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. He served as the elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates twice: from 1885 to 1886, and from 1889 to 1892. 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 The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

list it was announced that he would receive a barony, and on 15 July 1902 he was created Baron Kinross, of Glascune in the County of

Haddingtonshire East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

. He took the oath and his seat in the House of Lords the following month, on 7 August.

Personal life

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: *

Patrick Balfour, 2nd Baron Kinross Patrick Balfour, 2nd Baron Kinross KC (23 April 1870 – 28 July 1939) was a Scottish peer and advocate. Early life Balfour was born on 23 April 1870. He was the eldest son and only child of John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross and the former Lilias ...

(1870–1939), who married Caroline Elsie Johnstone-Douglas, a daughter of Arthur Johnstone-Douglas. After the death of his first wife, he married secondly the Hon. Marianne Eliza Moncrieff in 1877. Marianne was a daughter of James Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff. Together, they were the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter, including: * 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 Sir Robert Tuite Boothby KBE (29 June 1871 – 7 February 1941) was a British banker. Career He was born in St Andrews in Fife, the son of Col Robert Tod Boothby of the Royal Artillery, and his wife Madeline Condie. Boothby studied at the Unive ...

), in 1908. * Hon. John Ramsay Blair Balfour (1881–1964), a Lt.-Cdr. om the Royal Navy who died unmarried. * 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. * Hon. Norman Frederick William Balfour (1884–1954), the Vicar of Leafield who died unmarried. * Hon. Isobel Nora Gwendoline Balfour (1885–1961), who married Capt. Percival Henry Havelock Bailey, in 1908. Lord Kinross died 22 January 1905, at his home at 6 Rothesay TerraceEdinburgh Post Office Directory 1900 in Edinburgh, and was buried in the "Lords Row" in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

, Edinburgh. His descendants are buried with him.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, John Kinross, John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross, John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross, John Balfour, 1st Baron Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Lord Advocates Solicitors General for Scotland Scottish Liberal Party MPs UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs who were granted peerages Lords President of the Court of Session Lords Justice-General Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Burials at the Dean Cemetery Blair Balfour People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish King's Counsel 19th-century King's Counsel People from Clackmannanshire Deputy Lieutenants of Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom John, 1st Baron Kinross Deans of the Faculty of Advocates Peers created by Edward VII