Jabez Spencer Balfour (4 September 1843 – 23 February 1916) was an English businessman, British

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician and fraudster.

Life

Balfour was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to James and Clara Lucas Balfour. He was

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 Tamworth from 1880 to 1885, and for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

from 1889 to 1893. Balfour was also interested in local politics in his home town of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, Surrey where he regularly topped the poll for the

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

. When Croydon was awarded borough status in 1883 he was selected as charter mayor and re-elected for a second term. In 1885 he stood as Liberal candidate in

at the general election but lost to the Conservatives. He also stood unsuccessfully for the Liberals at

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

in 1886. In 1880 he was appointed chairman of the

Northampton Street Tramways The Northampton Street Tramways Company operated a horse powered tramway service in Northampton between 1881 and 1901. History On 9 January 1880, the Northampton Street Tramways Company was founded at a meeting in London. It quickly gained pa ...

. Together with City financiers

Leopold Salomons Leopold Salomons (14 May 1841 – 23 September 1915) was a city financier and company director active in the City of London in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Salomons was born into a British Jewish family, but it has been ...

and Sir John Pender, Balfour founded the investment underwriting firm the ''Trustees, Executors and Securities Insurance Corporation, Limited'' in December 1887. In 1892, he was at the centre of a scandal over the failure of a series of companies which he set up and controlled, starting with the London and General Bank and culminating in the Liberator

Building Society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingd ...

, leaving thousands of investors penniless. Instead of advancing money to home buyers, the Liberator had advanced money to property companies to buy properties owned by him, at a high price. After the swindle was discovered, Balfour fled the country. He was arrested in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

by Inspector

Frank Froest Superintendent Frank Castle Froest (1858, Bristol – 7 January 1930, Weston-super-Mare) was a British detective and crime writer. Froest was described by a journalist as being "...short, thick-set, full-faced, Mr. Froest in uniform looked more l ...

of Scotland Yard in 1895; with extradition proceedings held up by legal wrangling, Froest simply bundled Balfour into a train and then a boat sailing for England, ''The Tartar Prince''. The captain of the ship, Thomas Hesketh, later received a letter from Balfour thanking him for the kindness and hospitality shown during the trip back to England. Balfour was tried at the Old Bailey and sentenced to 14 years penal servitude, most of which was served in harsh conditions in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

prison, and he was released in 1906. After his release from prison in 1906, his memoirs were serialised by

Lord Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

's ''Weekly Despatch'' newspaper. Balfour died aged 72 on 23 February 1916, on a train from

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, heading for a job as a mining consultant. He married Ellen Mead in 1866. By 1880 her mental condition had deteriorated and she became a patient in the Priory Hospital, Roehampton. They had a son, James, in 1868 and four grandchildren.

Legacy

Present day

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Wood ...

, in the London Borough of Croydon, has a Balfour Road which is named after Jabez Balfour. So does Ilford, Essex, where Balfour Road is on the former Ilford Lodge estate, bought for development by Balfour's group. In the same area Wellesley Road is named after his Croydon house and Morland Road after the road where Hobbs and Co, the builders, had their offices in Croydon. Also nearby is Granville Road: Granville was the middle name of the group's solicitor. His name has, however, been erased from the memorial plaques at

Croydon University Hospital Croydon University Hospital, known from 1923 to 2002 as Mayday Hospital and from 2002 to 2010 as Croydon Hospital, is a large NHS hospital in Thornton Heath in south London, England run by Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. It is a District Gen ...

(formerly Mayday Hospital). Croydon Road and Tamworth Road in

Arthur's Hill Arthur's Hill is a district of Newcastle upon Tyne. It lies approximately 1 mile west of Newcastle City Centre. It is bordered by Fenham to the west, Elswick to the south, and Spital Tongues to the north west. It gives name to a Newcastle City ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, were built using funds invested in the Liberator Building Society and named in tribute to Balfour.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Jabez Spencer 1843 births 1916 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politics of the London Borough of Croydon History of the London Borough of Croydon UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 English fraudsters British politicians convicted of fraud Politics of Burnley English prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales 19th-century English businesspeople

Life

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links