John Balfour (6 November 1750 – 15 October 1842) was a Scottish politician and a civil servant in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

with connections to the Orcadian island of

Shapinsay Shapinsay (, sco, Shapinsee) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. Balfour Castle ...

Background

John Balfour was the son of William Balfour, a factor to the Dundas family.R. G. Thorne ''The House of Commons, 1790-1820, Volume 1'' p561
/ref> The family was descended from the Balfours of Trenabie on the island of

Westray Westray (, sco, Westree) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a usual resident population of just under 600 people. Its main village is Pierowall, with a heritage centre, the 15th-century Lady Kirk church and pedestrian ferry servi ...

. Having made a fortune in India, John Balfour married the widow of a Colonel Mackennan, who along with other British expatriates, had lent money to the Rajah of Tanjore, who then refused to repay the loans.

Political career

Balfour was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Orkney and Shetland on 28 July 1790. He used his new political connections to put pressure on the British Government who eventually engineered compensation for the lenders to the Rajah, so providing his wife with a "substantial benefit". He decided to retire at the next election in 1796 in favour of Robert Honyman. Balfour was MP for Orkney and Shetland again from 1820 to 1826.

Shapinsay

In 1827 he bought the Honyman estate on the island of Shapinsay"John Balfour"
Shetlopedia. Retrieved 7 August 2010. and the village of Balfour takes its name from the family interest in the island.Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 366 He commenced the building of

Balfour Castle Balfour Castle is a historic building on the southwest of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. Though built around an older structure that dates at least from the 18th century, the present castle was built in 1847, commissioned by Colonel David Balfour, ...

on the island on the site of an older structure. The work was completed by his son, Colonel David Balfour.

Notes

References

External links

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Shetlopedia John Balfour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, John 1750 births 1842 deaths Shapinsay Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Orkney and Shetland UK MPs 1820–1826 John, Orkney