John Blair Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross (born 11 July 1837 – 22 January 1905) was a Scottish lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1899.
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Early life
Balfour was born in the manse at Clackmannan, the son of Rev. Peter Balfour ("Perpendicular Peter"), minister of Clackmannan and his wife Jane Ramsay Blair, daughter of John Blair.
He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and then studied law at Edinburgh University, becoming an advocate of the Scottish bar in 1861.
Career
He served as Advocate Depute from 1870 to 1872, and in 1880 was made a Queen's Counsel. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for Edinburgh.
At the 1880 general election, Balfour stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Ayrshire North but in a by election six months later was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Kinross.
He was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in 1880 and in 1881 he succeeded this appointment by becoming Lord Advocate, a post he held for four years. In 1882 he became a Privy Counsellor. He served as the elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates twice: from 1885 to 1886, and from 1889 to 1892.