Gerald Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour
Victoria | |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | John Morley |
| Succeeded by | George Wyndham |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 19 March 1930 – 14 January 1945 as a hereditary peer | |
| Preceded by | The 1st Earl of Balfour |
| Succeeded by | The 3rd Earl of Balfour |
| Member of Parliament for Leeds Central | |
| In office 18 December 1885 – 8 February 1906 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Robert Armitage |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 April 1853 |
| Died | 14 January 1945 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse |
Lady Betty Bulwer-Lytton (m. 1887; died 1942) |
| Children | 6 |
| Parent(s) | James Maitland Balfour Lady Blanche Gascoyne-Cecil |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Gerald William Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour,
Background and education
Balfour was the fourth son of
Political career
Balfour sat as
After losing his seat in the House of Commons in the Liberal landslide of 1906, he was chairman of the Commission on Lighthouse Administration in 1908, and chairman of the Cambridge Committee of the Commission on Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He succeeded his brother Arthur as second Earl of Balfour in 1930, according to a special remainder in the letters patent and took a seat in the House of Lords.
Personal life and academic honours
During his first spell at the Houses of Parliament, Balfour received an honorary
From 1901 Balfour lived at Fisher's Hill House, a large home which he had built by
Balfour was interested in parapsychology.[3] He was President of the Society for Psychical Research (1906–1907).[4]
Marriage and children
Lord Balfour married
- Lady Eleanor Balfour (1890 – d. after 1980)
- Lady Ruth Balfour (d. 30 August 1967)
- Mary Edith Balfour (d. 21 January 1894 – 1980)
- Lady Evelyn Barbara "Eve" Balfour (16 July 1898 – 1990)
- Robert Arthur Lytton Balfour, 3rd Earl of Balfour (31 December 1902 – 28 November 1968)
- Lady Kathleen Constance Blanche Balfour (1912 – 20 August 1996).
An affair with Welsh Liberal politician Winifred Coombe Tennant resulted in a further child, Augustus Henry.[5]
The Countess of Balfour died in 1942, aged 74. Lord Balfour survived her by three years and died in January 1945, aged 91, by which time he was the last surviving member of any of long-serving Prime Minister Salisbury's cabinets. He was succeeded in the earldom by his only son Robert.
References
- ^ "Balfour, Gerald, William (BLFR871GW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ H. E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Woking". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ^ Pleasants. Helene. (1964). Gerald Balfour. In Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology with Directory and Glossary 1946-1996. New York: Garrett Publications.
- ISBN 978-0356078755
- ^ Secret life story of psychic MP Winifred Coombe Tennant, BBC News, 18 May 2011 [1]
Further reading
- Gerald Balfour. (1908). Some Recent Investigations by the Society for Psychical Research. The Hibbert Journal. 7: 241–260.
- G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, UK: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XIII, p. 373.
- Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1998), p. 691.
- Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, p. 173.
External links
