John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross

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John Blair Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross, PC, QC (11 July 1837 – 22 January 1905) was a Scottish lawyer and politician

Born in Clackmannan, 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. That same year he was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross, and was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland. In 1881 he succeeded this appointment by becoming Lord Advocate, a post he held for four years, and the following year 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. He died aged 67 in Edinburgh and was buried in the city's Dean Cemetery.

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
Preceded by New Creation	Baron Kinross 1902–1905	Succeeded by Patrick Balfour