View source for Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet of Denmilne and Kinnaird

{{short description|Scottish baronet, historian and Lyons king-of-arms}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
[[File:James Balfour, 1st Baronet of Denmilne and Kinnaird.jpg|thumb|Sir James Balfour, {{circa|1640}}]]
'''Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet of Denmilne and Kinnaid''' ({{circa|1600}} – 1657), of [[Perth and Kinross]], [[Scotland]], was a Scottish [[annal]]ist and [[antiquary]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
==Biography==
James Balfour was a son of Sir Michael Balfour of [[Denmylne Castle|Denmilne]], Fife, and Joanna Durham.
Balfour was well acquainted with Sir [[William Segar]] and with [[William Dugdale]], to whose ''Monasticon'' he contributed. He was knighted by [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] in 1630, was made [[Lord Lyon King of Arms]] in the same year, and in 1633 [[Balfour baronets|baronet of Kinnaird]]. He was arbitrarily removed from his office of Lord Lyon by [[Oliver Cromwell]] and died in 1657.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
Some of his numerous works are preserved in the [[Advocates' Library]] at [[Edinburgh]], together with his correspondence, from which rich collection James Haig published Balfour's ''Annales of Scotland'' in four volumes (1824–1825). [[James Maidment]] also extracted papers from the collection in order to publish them.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
His arms were ''Or, on a chevron sable between three cinquefoils vert an otter's head erased of the field'' but also given as ''three trefoils slipped vert''.<ref name="General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire">{{cite book|last1=Burke|first1=John|title=A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire|date=1832|publisher=H. Colburn and R. Bentley|page=[https://archive.org/details/ageneralandhera01burkgoog/page/n130 73]|url=https://archive.org/details/ageneralandhera01burkgoog|access-date=30 September 2017|language=en}}</ref>
==Arms==
{{Infobox coat of arms wide
| name = Sir James Balfour of Denmilne and Kinnaird
| image = Arms of Sir James Balfour of Denmilne and Kinnaird, 1st Baronet.svg
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| escutcheon = ''Or on a chevron sable between three trefoils slipped vert an otter's head erased argent.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/articles/sir-james-balfour-of-denmylne-and-kinnaird-and-his-coronation-as-lyon-king-of-arms-of-scotland-1630/ |title=Sir James Balfour of Denmylne and Kinnaird – and his Coronation as Lyon King of Arms of Scotland, 1630 |date=2018-03-01 |website=The Heraldry Society |language=en-GB |access-date=2018-11-12}}</ref>''
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| previous_versions = His arms were also blazoned as: ''Or, on a chevron sable between three cinquefoils vert an otter's head erased of the field''.<ref name="General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire"/>
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== Library ==
Balfour was an avid manuscript collector.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pont maps of Scotland, ca. 1583-1614 - Biographies - National Library of Scotland |url=https://maps.nls.uk/pont/biographies/balfour.html |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=maps.nls.uk}}</ref> Many of his manuscripts was purchased by the [[Faculty of Advocates]] in 1698 and are now in the [[National Library of Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=I.-C. |date=1973 |title=Latin classical manuscripts in the National Library of Scotland |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/scrip_0036-9772_1973_num_27_1_1012 |journal=Scriptorium |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=64–90}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
'''Attribution:'''
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Balfour, Sir James, Bart. (antiquary)|display=Balfour, Sir James|volume=3|page=255}} which in turn cites:
** [[Robert Sibbald|Sibbald, Robert]] (1699) ''Memoria Balfouriana; sive, Historia rerum, pro literis promovendis, gestarum a ... fratribus Balfouriis ... Jacobo ... et ... Andrea. Authore R.S.''. Edinburgi: Typis Hæredum Andreæ Anderson
==Further reading==
* {{Eminent Scotsmen|Balfour, (Sir) James, antiquary|1|107-15}}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Balfour, James (1600-1657)}}
==External links==
*{{Citation
|last=Balfour
|first=James
|author-link=Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet
|date=c. 1650
|editor-last=Maidment
|editor-first=James
|editor-link=James Maidment
|title=Ancient Heraldic and Antiquarian Tracts
|publisher=Thomas G. Stevenson
|publication-date=1837
|location=Edinburgh
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fjIQAAAAYAAJ
}}
*{{Citation
|last=Balfour
|first=James
|author-link=Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet
|year=1652
|editor-last=Haig
|editor-first=James
|title=The Annales of Scotland (1057 &ndash; 1603)
|volume=I
|publication-date=1824
|location=Edinburgh
|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalworkso01balf
}}
*{{Citation
|last=Balfour
|first=James
|author-link=Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet
|year=1652
|editor-last=Haig
|editor-first=James
|title=The Annales of Scotland (1604 &ndash; 1640)
|volume=II
|publication-date=1824
|location=Edinburgh
}}
*{{Citation
|last=Balfour
|first=James
|author-link=Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet
|year=1652
|editor-last=Haig
|editor-first=James
|title=The Annales of Scotland (1641 &ndash; 1649)
|volume=III
|publication-date=1824
|location=Edinburgh
|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalworkso03balf
}}
*{{Citation
|last=Balfour
|first=James
|author-link=Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet
|year=1652
|editor-last=Haig
|editor-first=James
|title=The Annales of Scotland (1650 &ndash; 1652); King Charles' Visit 1633
|volume=IV
|publication-date=1824
|location=Edinburgh
|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalworkso04balf
}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-herald}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jerome Lindsay|Sir Jerome Lindsay]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord Lyon King of Arms]]|years=1630–1654}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Campbell (officer of arms)|Sir James Campbell]]}}
{{s-reg|sct-bt}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Balfour baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Denmiln and Kinnaird)'''|years=1633 &ndash; 1657}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir Robert Balfour, 2nd Baronet|Robert Balfour]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, James}}
[[Category:1600s births]]
[[Category:1657 deaths]]
[[Category:Balfour baronets|101]]
[[Category:Nobility from Perth and Kinross]]
[[Category:Scottish antiquarians]]
[[Category:17th-century Scottish historians]]
[[Category:Lord Lyon Kings of Arms]]
[[Category:Clan Balfour|James, Denmilne]]