Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh
Encyclopedia
Alexander Hugh Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh KT GCMG
GCVO
PC DL
JP
(13 January 1849 – 6 July 1921) was a Scottish
Unionist politician, banker and statesman, who took a leading part in the affairs of the Church of Scotland
. He was Secretary for Scotland between 1895 and 1903.
Member of Parliament
for Clackmannan
, he was born in Kennet
in that county and educated at Loretto
, Eton
and Oriel College, Oxford. In 1868, four years after his death, Robert Bruce's claim to the peerage
was recognised by the House of Lords
, and so his son became sixth Lord Balfour of Burleigh
on the reversal of the title's attainder
by Act of Parliament
in 1869.
. Six years later, he was made an Education Commissioner for Scotland
, and in 1887 he entered Lord Salisbury's
administration as a Lord-in-Waiting
. The following year, Lord Balfour became Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade
, a position he held until the Liberals
returned to power in 1892, and for three years he chaired the London Water Supply Commission until his return to government as Secretary for Scotland in 1895. Appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1901, Balfour resigned office two years later with the split that occurred in the Conservative and Unionist Party over Joseph Chamberlain
's campaign for tariff reform, a campaign which he opposed.
in 1910, and was an important negotiator in the discussions on church union in Scotland which came to fruition in the 1920s. In 1916 he was appointed as chairman of the Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy
. In 1917 he was appointed convener of the Carnegie trust for the universities of Scotland
. He became Lord Warden of the Stannaries
in Cornwall
and a member of the Council of the Prince of Wales
in 1908. He was also made a knight of the Thistle in 1901, GCMG
in 1911, and GCVO in 1917.
as part of their series Cambridge manuals of science and literature.
, in 1876. They had two sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Robert Bruce, Master of Burleigh, was killed in the First World War. Lord Burleigh of Balfour died at Cadogan Square
, London
, in July 1921, aged 72. He was buried in Clackmannan. Lady Balfour of Burleigh died in February 1931, aged 78.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
PC DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
JP
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(13 January 1849 – 6 July 1921) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Unionist politician, banker and statesman, who took a leading part in the affairs of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
. He was Secretary for Scotland between 1895 and 1903.
Background
The son of Robert Bruce, at one time ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Clackmannan
Clackmannan (UK Parliament constituency)
Clackmannan was a parliamentary constituency in the Clackmannan area of Central Scotland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....
, he was born in Kennet
Kennet, Clackmannanshire
Kennet is a small former coal mining village in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is located south-east of Clackmannan, by the Kincardine railway line. The village is a conservation area, designated by Clackmannanshire Council....
in that county and educated at Loretto
Loretto School
Loretto School is an independent school in Scotland, founded in 1827. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh.-History:Loretto was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. Langhorne came from Crosby Ravensworth, near Kirkby Stephen. The school was later taken over by his son,...
, Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Oriel College, Oxford. In 1868, four years after his death, Robert Bruce's claim to the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
was recognised by the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, and so his son became sixth Lord Balfour of Burleigh
Lord Balfour of Burleigh
Lord Balfour of Burleigh, in the County of Kinross, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1607 for Sir Michael Balfour. He was succeeded by his daughter Margaret, the second holder of the title. She married Robert Arnot, who assumed the surname of Balfour in lieu of Arnot, and...
on the reversal of the title's attainder
Attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...
by Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
in 1869.
Political career
In 1876 Balfour was elected a Scottish representative peerRepresentative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
. Six years later, he was made an Education Commissioner for Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and in 1887 he entered Lord Salisbury's
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
administration as a Lord-in-Waiting
Lord-in-Waiting
Most Lords in Waiting are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As members of the Royal Household their duties are nominal, though they are occasionally required to meet visiting political and state leaders on visits...
. The following year, Lord Balfour became Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade in the United Kingdom was a member of Parliament assigned to assist the Board of Trade and its President with administration and liaison with Parliament. It replaced the Vice-President of the Board of Trade....
, a position he held until the Liberals
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
returned to power in 1892, and for three years he chaired the London Water Supply Commission until his return to government as Secretary for Scotland in 1895. Appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1901, Balfour resigned office two years later with the split that occurred in the Conservative and Unionist Party over Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
's campaign for tariff reform, a campaign which he opposed.
Other public appointments
Balfour was appointed Lord Rector of Edinburgh University (1896–1899), and elected Chancellor of St Andrews University in 1900, a post he held until his death. An active figure in the Church of Scotland, he was President of the World Missionary Conference held in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 1910, and was an important negotiator in the discussions on church union in Scotland which came to fruition in the 1920s. In 1916 he was appointed as chairman of the Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy
Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy
The Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy was chaired by Lord Balfour of Burleigh from 1916 to 1918. Balfour instructed its members to "cast aside any abstract fiscal dogmas".-Background:...
. In 1917 he was appointed convener of the Carnegie trust for the universities of Scotland
Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland is a charitable trust established by Andrew Carnegie in 1901 for the benefit of the universities of Scotland, their students and their staff....
. He became Lord Warden of the Stannaries
Lord Warden of the Stannaries
The Lord Warden of the Stannaries used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, United Kingdom, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, has the function of calling a Stannary Parliament of tinners...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and a member of the Council of the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
in 1908. He was also made a knight of the Thistle in 1901, GCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
in 1911, and GCVO in 1917.
History of Presbyterianism
Balfour wrote An Historical Account of the Rise and Development of Presbyterianism in Scotland, published in 1911 by the Cambridge University PressCambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
as part of their series Cambridge manuals of science and literature.
Family
Balfour married Lady Katherine Eliza, youngest daughter of the George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of AberdeenGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen
George John James Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen , styled Lord Haddo before 1860, was a British peer and Liberal Party politician....
, in 1876. They had two sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Robert Bruce, Master of Burleigh, was killed in the First World War. Lord Burleigh of Balfour died at Cadogan Square
Cadogan Square
Cadogan Square is a square in Knightsbridge named after Earl Cadogan .It is one of the most desirable residential addresses in London. It is formed of a garden surrounded by red-brick houses, the majority of which have now been converted into apartments. Cadogan Square is south of Pont Street, east...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in July 1921, aged 72. He was buried in Clackmannan. Lady Balfour of Burleigh died in February 1931, aged 78.