Graham Balfour

Sir Graham Balfour

Sir Graham Balfour (2 December 1858 – 26 October 1929) was a noted educationalist and son of Surgeon General Thomas Graham Balfour, who worked closely with Florence Nightingale.

Biography and links with RLS

Sir Graham Balfour (born Chelsea, London 1858), christened Thomas Graham Balfour, was an educationist and wrote a well-received biography of his cousin Robert Louis Stevenson. He lived in Vailima, Samoa, with the Stevenson family during the last two and a half years of Stevenson's life.

He was born to Thomas Graham Balfour (senior) and Georgina Prentice. He married Rhoda Brooke in 1896, and the couple had two sons, one of whom was Michael Balfour.

While some critics see the biography as well-written and useful, it has also been criticized. For example, some critics argue that Fanny Stevenson had too much authorial control over the biography. Indeed, Sidney Colvin originally wished to complete the biography, but disputes with Fanny led him to drop the project.

Further reading

• Balfour, Thomas Graham (1901) The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson, Vol. 2 (London: Methuen & Co.)

External links

• Works by Graham Balfour at Hathi Trust