Michael Balfour, 1st Lord Balfour of Burleigh

Michael Balfour, 1st Lord Balfour of Burleigh PC (died 15 March 1619) was a Scottish peer.

Balfour was the eldest son of Sir James Balfour, Lord Pittendreich, President of the Court of Session, and his wife Margaret (née Balfour). James Balfour, 1st Baron Balfour of Glenawley, was his younger brother.

His residence was Burleigh Castle near Kinross. He was knighted at the opening of Parliament in 1592.[1]

Rebel

In February 1584 James VI confirmed Michael Balfour and his wife Christine Beaton's charter for his daughter Margaret Balfour of lands in Perthshire and Stirling including Skeoch Mill at Bannockburn.[2]

In the early 1590s Balfour supported and intrigued with the rebel Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, along with other landowners including John Wemyss of Logie and Archibald Wauchope of Niddrie. In October 1592 he crossed the border into England and played cards and football with Bothwell at Netherby Hall.[3] He was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle in November 1592 and faced banishment.[4]

Arms and armour

An Act of Parliament in December 1599 made Michael Balfour wealthy, directing landowners and people of standing to buy armour from him, for defence musters.[5] Several men complained that Balfour tried to make them buy more armour than their rank and income demanded, or like James Blackadder of Tulliallan, already owned sufficient armour.[6] In 1598 James VI had allowed Balfour to import arms from abroad, and historians regard this as a move to prepare for war in the event of death Queen Elizabeth, to ensure the succession of James to the throne of England, and 1602 Balfour was sent to buy weapons in the Dutch Republic for 2,000 troops to fight pretenders to his throne.[7]

Balfour became a member of the Scottish Privy Council. He served as Scottish Ambassador to the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Lorraine in 1606. In 1607 he was raised to the Peerage of Scotland as Lord Balfour of Burleigh, in the County of Kinross.

He died in March 1619.

Marriage and children

Michael Balfour married Margaret Lundin, daughter of William Lundin of that Ilk, in 1591. She died in 1625.

He was succeeded in the lordship by his daughter Margaret. Margaret Balfour married Robert Arnot, a son of Robert Arnot of Fernie, and he adopted the name, Robert Balfour, 2nd Lord Balfour of Burleigh.

Notes

1. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 683.
2. Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-84, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 305 no. 1818.
3. Joseph Bain, Calendar of Border Papers, vol. 1 (London, 1894), p. 415.
4. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 751, 818: Thomas Thomson, History of the Kirk of Scotland by David Calderwood, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1844), p. 207.
5. Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:1 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 584 no. 477.
6. David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 180-2.
7. Susan Doran, 'James VI and the English Succession', Ralph Anthony Houlbrooke, James VI and I: Ideas, Authority, and Government (Ashgate, 2006), pp. 32-3: John Duncan Mackie, Negotiations between King James VI and Fredinand I Grand Duke of Tuscany (Oxford, 1927), pp. viii-xiv.

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.