Balfour was born in
Marylebone,
London to James and
Clara Lucas Balfour. He was
Member of Parliament for
Tamworth from 1880 to 1885, and for
Burnley from 1889 to 1893. When Croydon was awarded
borough status in 1883 he was selected as charter mayor and re-elected for a second term. In 1885 he stood as Liberal candidate in
Croydon at the
general election but lost to the Conservatives. He also stood unsuccessfully for the Liberals at
Walworth in 1886. In 1880, he was appointed chairman of the
Northampton Street Tramways. Together with City financiers
Leopold Salomons and
Sir John Pender, Balfour founded the investment underwriting firm the Trustees, Executors and Securities Insurance Corporation Limited in December 1887. In 1892, he was at the centre of a scandal over the failure of a series of companies which he had set up and controlled, starting with the London and General Bank and culminating in the Liberator
Building Society, leaving thousands of investors penniless. After the swindle was discovered, Balfour fled the country. He was arrested in
Argentina by Inspector
Frank Froest of Scotland Yard in 1895. With extradition proceedings held up by legal wrangling, Froest simply bundled Balfour into a train and then a boat sailing for England,
The Tartar Prince. The captain of the ship, Thomas Hesketh, later received a letter from Balfour thanking him for his kindness and hospitality during the trip back to England. Balfour was tried at the
Old Bailey and sentenced to 14 years penal servitude, most of which was served in harsh conditions in
Portland prison. He was released in 1906. They had a son, James, born in 1868, and four grandchildren. ==Legacy==