John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross

The Right Honourable
The Lord Kinross
PC QC
Lord Justice General
In office
1899–1905
Monarch Victoria
Edward VII
Preceded by James Robertson
Succeeded by Andrew Graham Murray
Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross
In office
29 April 1880  December 1899
Preceded by Sir William Adam
Succeeded by Eugene Wason
Personal details
Spouse(s) Lilias, Lady Kinross
Children 5

John Blair Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross PC QC (11 July 1837 – 22 January 1905) was a Scottish lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1899.

"the Lord Advocate"
Balfour as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, May 1886

Life

Balfour was born in Clackmannan, the son of Rev. P Balfour Minister of Clackmannan and his wife Jane Ramsay Blair, daughter of John Blair. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University, becoming an advocate of the Scottish bar in 1861. 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.[1]

At the 1880 general election, Balfour stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Ayrshire North but in a by election six months later was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross.[2] 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.[2]

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 and Lord President of the Court of Session, and in 1902 was created Baron Kinross, of Glascune in the County of Haddingtonshire. [2]

Balfour died 22 January 1905, at Rothsay Terrace, Edinburghin Edinburgh, and was buried in the "Lords Row" in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. His descendants are buried with him. [2]

Baron Kinross monument, Dean Cemetery

Family

Balfour married Lilias Oswald Mackenzie daughter of Donald Mackenzie, styled Lord Mackenzie, a Lord of Session, in 1869. They had one son, Patrick Balfour, 2nd Baron Kinross (1870-1939).

He married secondly in 1877 the Hon. Marianne Eliza Moncrieff,[3] daughter of James Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff. [2] The couple had five children, 4 sons and 1 daughter.

Notes

References

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir William Patrick Adam
Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross
18801899
Succeeded by
Eugene Wason
Legal offices
Preceded by
John Macdonald
Solicitor General for Scotland
18801881
Succeeded by
Alexander Asher
Preceded by
John McLaren
Lord Advocate
18811885
Succeeded by
John Macdonald
Preceded by
John Macdonald
Lord Advocate
1886
Succeeded by
John Macdonald
Preceded by
Sir Charles John Pearson
Lord Advocate
18921895
Succeeded by
Sir Charles John Pearson
Preceded by
James Robertson
Lord Justice General
18991905
Succeeded by
Andrew Graham Murray
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Kinross
19021905
Succeeded by
Patrick Balfour
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