Sir William Balfour of Pitcullo ( – buried 28 July 1660) was a Scottish-born professional soldier who served in the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

and with Parliamentarian forces during the

War of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bis ...

Biography

Balfour was a member of the prominent

Balfours Balfours is an Australian bakery which produces pies, pasties and cakes for sale in South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. History Balfours began when Scottish immigrant James Calder and Margaret née Balfour opened a bakery at 130 R ...

of Pitcullo,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, the son of Colonel Henry Balfour (died 1580), and his wife, Christian Cant. He entered Dutch service in the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary army ...

during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

fighting with the Scottish brigade until 1627. In that year he became lieutenant-colonel in the

Earl of Morton The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...

's regiment, took part in the expedition to the isle of Rhé to relieve the

Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the ...

, and was noticed as being one of the officers most favoured by the

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...

. In January 1628, he was charged by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, in conjunction with Colonel Dalbier, to raise 1,000 horse in

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, but the suspicions this project aroused in the House of Commons of England obliged the king to abandon the plan, and to assure the house that these troops were never meant to be employed in England. On the death of Sir Allen Apsley in 1630, Sir William, who is described as one of the gentlemen of the king's privy chamber, was appointed

Lieutenant of the Tower of London The Lieutenant of the Tower of London serves directly under the Constable of the Tower. The office has been appointed at least since the 13th century. There were formerly many privileges, immunities and perquisites attached to the office. Like the ...

. In October 1631 he was employed on a confidential mission to the Netherlands. He also received many other marks of the king's favour, including the grant in 1633 of a lucrative

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

for making gold and silver money in the Tower. Nevertheless, Balfour, "from the beginning of the

Long parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

, according to the natural custom of his country, forgot all his obligations to the king, and made himself very gracious to those people whose glory it was to be thought enemies of the court". Perhaps religious motives had something to do with this change of parties, for Balfour was a devout

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and a violent opponent of

popery The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

(as Roman Catholicism was called in England at the time), and had once beaten a priest for trying to convert his wife. Strafford was entrusted to Balfour's keeping, and though offered £20,000 and an advantageous match for his daughter, he refused to connive at the earl's escape, or to admit Captain Billingsley and his suspicious levies to the Tower. The King, therefore, persuaded or obliged Balfour to resign his post in December 1641. The accounts given of the causes of this resignation differ considerably. When the parliament raised an army Sir William was appointed lieutenant-general of the horse, under the nominal command of the

Earl of Bedford Earl of Bedford is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England and is currently a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Bedford. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of Hugh de Beaumont. He appears to have been degraded fr ...

. He commanded the reserve at the

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between K ...

, broke several regiments of the king's foot, and captured part of his artillery.

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

describes him spiking the king's guns with his own hands, and all accounts agree in praise of his services. He did not take part in the

First Battle of Newbury The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex. Following ...

, having gone abroad to try the waters on account of his health. In the spring of 1644 he was detached from the army of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

with 1,000 horse to reinforce Waller, and shared the command at the victory of

New Alresford New Alresford or simply Alresford ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is northeast of Winchester and southwest of the town of Alton. New Alresford has independent shops, a t ...

. His letter of 30 March 1644 to Essex, relating the battle, was ordered to be printed. He then rejoined Essex, accompanied him into

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, and took Weymouth and

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(June 1644). When the infantry was forced to surrender, he broke through the king's lines, and "by an orderly and well-governed march passed above 100 miles in the king's quarters", and succeeded in joining General Middleton. At the

Second Battle of Newbury The Second Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War fought on 27 October 1644, in Speen, adjoining Newbury in Berkshire. The battle was fought close to the site of the First Battle of Newbury, which took place in la ...

he commanded the right wing of the parliamentary horse. This was Balfour's last public exploit; with the organisation of the

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

he retired from military service. The House of Commons appointed a committee "to consider of a fit recompense and acknowledgment of the faithful services done by him to the public" (21 January 1645), and the House of Lords voted the payment of his arrears (£7,000) and specially recommended him to the Commons (21 July). But some intercepted correspondence seems to have awakened suspicions and caused delays in this payment. He was buried at Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey on 28 July 1660.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, William 1570s births 1660 deaths English generals Roundheads Military personnel from Fife 17th-century Scottish people Scottish people of the Thirty Years' War 17th-century soldiers 17th-century Presbyterians Lieutenants of the Tower of London 17th-century Dutch military personnel Military personnel of the English Civil War William, General Burials at St Margaret's, Westminster

Biography

See also

References