Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, 1st earl of, 1848-1930, British statesman; nephew of the 3d marquess of Salisbury. He entered parliament as a Conservative in 1874 and served as secretary to his uncle at the Congress of Berlin (1878). Although associated with the "Fourth Party" of Lord Randolph Churchill, he remained close to Salisbury, serving as president of the Local Government Board (1885-86) and secretary for Scotland (1886). As chief secretary for Ireland (1887-91) Balfour was a resolute opponent of the Home Rule movement and suppressed riots, but he worked for agrarian reform. In 1891 he became Conservative leader in the House of Commons and served (1891-92, 1895-1902) as first lord of the treasury. He succeeded his uncle as prime minister in 1902. His government achieved educational reform (1902), passed the Irish Land Purchase Act (1903), created the Committee of Imperial Defence (1904), and inaugurated the Franco-British Entente (1904). However, the Conservative party split over tariff protection advocated by Joseph Chamberlain. Balfour resigned in 1905, and his party was overwhelmingly defeated in the 1906 election. He continued as leader of the Conservatives during the disputes over the 1909 budget and the reform of the House of Lords but resigned in 1911. Balfour was first lord of the admiralty (1915-16) in Herbert Asquith's coalition government and became (1916) foreign secretary under David Lloyd George. In this capacity he issued the Balfour Declaration (1917), pledging British support to the Zionist hope for a Jewish national home in Palestine, with the proviso that the rights of non-Jewish communities in Palestine would be respected (see Zionism). He attended the Versailles peace conference and, as lord president of the council (1919-22), represented Britain at the first meeting of the League of Nations in 1920 and at the Washington Conference on limiting naval armaments in 1921-22. Created earl of Balfour in 1922, he was again lord president of the council (1925-29). Balfour was a brilliant intellectual and an effective public official, devoted to the cause of international peace. His philosophical writings, which explore the problems of modern religion, include The Foundations of Belief (1900), Theism and Humanism (1915), Theism and Thought (1923), and Opinions and Arguments (1927).

Balfour, Francis Maitland, 1851-82, Scottish embryologist; brother of A. J. Balfour. He was an early exponent of recapitulation. His Treatise on Comparative Embryology (2 vol., 1880-81) is a classic treatment of the evolution of the egg and embryo. Professor of animal morphology at Cambridge, Balfour did research there and at the zoological station at Naples.

Balfour, Sir James, d. 1583, Scottish judge and politician. Captured (1547) at St. Andrews after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, he served a sentence in the French galleys and on his release (1549) abjured Protestantism. He became an adviser to Mary Queen of Scots and was involved in the murder of Lord Darnley. He was made governor of Edinburgh Castle, but when the Scottish lords rose against the queen, he surrendered it to them. Balfour repeatedly changed his political allegiance in succeeding conflicts. Eventually he withdrew to France, but he returned to Scotland (1580) to help secure the conviction of the earl of Morton for Darnley's murder. He was long a jurist, but, despite its name, the early law text, Balfour's Practicks of Scots Law, is only partially of his authorship.

(born Nov. 13, 1850, Edinburgh, Scot.—died Dec. 3, 1894, Vailima, Samoa) Scottish essayist, novelist, and poet. He prepared for a law career but never practiced. He traveled frequently, partly in search of better climates for his tuberculosis, which would eventually cause his death at age 44. He became known for accounts such as Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879) and essays in periodicals, first collected in Virginibus Puerisque (1881). His immensely popular novels Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and The Master of Ballantrae (1889) were written over the course of a few years. A Child's Garden of Verses (1885) is one of the most influential children's works of the 19th century. In his last years he lived in Samoa and produced works moving toward a new maturity, including the story “The Beach of Falesá” (1892) and the novel Weir of Hermiston (1896), his unfinished masterpiece.

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(born Nov. 13, 1850, Edinburgh, Scot.—died Dec. 3, 1894, Vailima, Samoa) Scottish essayist, novelist, and poet. He prepared for a law career but never practiced. He traveled frequently, partly in search of better climates for his tuberculosis, which would eventually cause his death at age 44. He became known for accounts such as Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879) and essays in periodicals, first collected in Virginibus Puerisque (1881). His immensely popular novels Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and The Master of Ballantrae (1889) were written over the course of a few years. A Child's Garden of Verses (1885) is one of the most influential children's works of the 19th century. In his last years he lived in Samoa and produced works moving toward a new maturity, including the story “The Beach of Falesá” (1892) and the novel Weir of Hermiston (1896), his unfinished masterpiece.

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(born July 25, 1848, Whittinghame, East Lothian, Scot.—died March 19, 1930, Woking, Surrey, Eng.) British statesman. The nephew of the marquess of Salisbury, Balfour served in Parliament (1874–1911) and in his uncle's government as secretary for Ireland (1887–91). From 1891 he was the Conservative Party's leader in Parliament and succeeded his uncle as prime minister (1902–05). He helped form the Entente Cordiale (1904). His most famous action came in 1917 when, as foreign secretary (1916–19), he wrote the so-called Balfour Declaration, which expressed official British approval of Zionism. He served as lord president of the council (1919–22, 1925–29) and drafted the Balfour Report (1926), which defined relations between Britain and the dominions expressed in the Statute of Westminster.

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Balfour is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,200 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Balfour is located at (35.346017, -82.476941).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.8 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,200 people, 481 households, and 320 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 652.3 people per square mile (251.8/km²). There were 527 housing units at an average density of 286.5/sq mi (110.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.25% White, 4.75% African American, 0.50% Native American, 1.58% Asian, 2.17% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.92% of the population.

There were 481 households out of which 22.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.75.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 17.8% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 109.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.8 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $28,889, and the median income for a family was $40,721. Males had a median income of $28,611 versus $20,139 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $16,010. About 3.0% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

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