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.

File:John Balfour Vanity Fair 1 May 1886.jpg

"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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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, daughter of James Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff. They had five children, 4 sons and 1 daughter.

References

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External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Balfour
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir William Patrick Adam	Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross 1880–1899	Succeeded by Eugene Wason
Legal offices
Preceded by John Macdonald	Solicitor General for Scotland 1880–1881	Succeeded by Alexander Asher
Preceded by John McLaren	Lord Advocate 1881–1885	Succeeded by John Macdonald
Preceded by John Macdonald	Lord Advocate 1886	Succeeded by John Macdonald
Preceded by Sir Charles John Pearson	Lord Advocate 1892–1895	Succeeded by Sir Charles John Pearson
Preceded by James Robertson	Lord Justice General 1899–1905	Succeeded by Andrew Graham Murray
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Kinross 1902–1905	Succeeded by Patrick Balfour