Captain Charles Barrington Balfour JP, DL, CB (20 February 1862 – 31 August 1921)[1] was a British Army officer who became a Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1900 to 1907.
He was a first cousin of Arthur Balfour,[2] who served as Prime Minister from 1902 to 1905.
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Balfour was the son of Charles Balfour, and his wife Adelaide (died 1862), daughter and 8th child of the 6th Viscount Barrington.[3] His father died when he was 10 years old, and Charles succeeded to his estates:[2] Balgonie Castle in Fife and Newton Don in Roxburghshire.
He was educated at Eton and at Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Scots Guards from 1881 to 1890. He served in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882, and was present at the battle of Tel-El-Kebir, for which received a medal with a clasp.[3] He was a Captain in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the King's Own Scottish Borderers from 1891 to 1895, and later served as a captain in the Royal Guards Reserve Regiment.[3]
Balfour was a councillor on Berwickshire County Council, a Justice of the Peace for Berwickshire, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Berwickshire.
He stood for Parliament five times before he won a seat. He was unsuccessful in Roxburghshire at the 1885 general election, in Berwickshire at the 1892 and 1895 general elections, and the Southport by-election in 1899.[3]
At the 1900 general election he was elected unopposed[2] as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Hornsey division of Middlesex.[4] He was re-elected in 1906,[5] but resigned his seat on 28 May 1907 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.[6]
Balfour was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire on 31st May 1917.[7] In the King's Birthday Honours in June 1919, he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath for services in connection with World War I in his capacity as president and chairman of the Berwickshire Territorial Force Association.[8]
Balfour was also a director of Barclays Bank and of the Scottish Widows fund.[2]
In 1888, Balfour Married Lady Helena McDonnell,[3] known as "Nina",[2] daughter of the 5th Earl of Antrim.[3] They had four sons, the eldest being Charles James Balfour, a Captain in the Scots Guards, who was born in 1889 and in 1917 married Hon. Aurea Vera Baring, daughter of Lord Ashburton.[2][9]
They also had a son John, who was imprisoned in Germany at Ruhleben, a race course on the outskirts of Berlin, for the duration of WWI. He had been studying at university, in Germany, at the outbreak of the war and was immediately imprisoned. On repatriation, he joined the Foreign Office and became a career diplomat, and was knighted in 1954.
He was our man in Moscow, Madrid, Buenos Aires and Washington, as well as serving in other countries. He was with Churchill at Yalta, and served him on several occasions during the war. He died in 1983 and posthumously published a book about his expiences. Titled "Not Too Correct an Auriole, the recollections of a Diplomat," it was written when he was past his best, but is an entertaining read.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Stephens |
Member of Parliament for Hornsey 1900 – 1907 |
Succeeded by Lawrence Dundas |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Lord Binning |
Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire 1917–1921 |
Succeeded by Charles Hope |