The Lord Balfour of Inchrye | |
|---|---|
 Balfour in 1937 | |
| Minister Resident in West Africa | |
| In office 21 November 1944 – 26 July 1945 | |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Swinton |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Under-Secretary of State for Air | |
| In office 16 May 1938 – 21 November 1944 Serving with The Lord Sherwood (1941–1944) | |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | Anthony Muirhead |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Sherwood andRupert Brabner |
| Member of Parliament forIsle of Thanet | |
| In office 30 May 1929 – 15 June 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Esmond Harmsworth |
| Succeeded by | Edward Carson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1897-11-01)1 November 1897 |
| Died | 21 September 1988(1988-09-21) (aged 90) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | British Army (1914–1918) Royal Air Force (1918–1923) |
| Years of service | 1914–1923 |
| Rank | Major (British Army) Flying Officer (Royal Air Force) |
| Unit | 60th Rifles (1914) No. 60 Squadron RFC (1915–1917) No. 43 Squadron RFC (1917) No. 40 Squadron RFC (1917–1918) No. 43 Squadron RAF (1918) |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards | Military Cross &Bar |
Harold Harington Balfour, 1st Baron Balfour of Inchrye (1 November 1897 – 21 September 1988), was aConservative Party politician in the United Kingdom, and aflying ace of theFirst World War. AsUnder-Secretary of State for Air in 1944 he was instrumental in the establishment ofLondon Heathrow Airport.
Balfour was born inCamberley,Surrey, on 1 November 1897 to Colonel Nigel Harington Balfour (1873–1955) and Grace A. A. Maddocks, and educated at Chilverton Elms School,Dover,Kent, and later at theRoyal Naval College, Osborne,Isle of Wight. He left the Royal Naval College after two years due to a combination of indiscipline and poor health, and completed his education at Blundells School in Devon.[1]
Balfour joined the60th Rifles in 1914 and served in France for three months before he transferred to theRoyal Flying Corps. After training he was posted toNo. 60 Squadron. In 1917 he was serving withNo. 43 Squadron when he downed two enemy aircraft while flying aSopwith 1½ Strutter. He was injured in a crash and moved on to the School of Special Flying,No. 40 Squadron, then returned to No. 43 Squadron. Now piloting theSopwith Camel he claimed 7 more victories and was promoted to major. Balfour then took command of a training school until 1919. He was private secretary andaide-de-camp to Air Vice MarshalSir John Salmond 1921–1922, and temporary ADC toSir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for Air, 1923. He retired from theRoyal Air Force in 1923 to follow a career in journalism and business. Balfour was interviewed on 30 September 1978 by the art historian Anna Malinovska. The interview is reproduced inVoices in Flight (Pen & Sword Books, 2006). He also appeared as a contributor in the 1987 documentary 'The Cavalry of the Clouds', produced by British regional commercial television station 'HTV West'.
Balfour contestedStratford without success in 1924 and was elected in 1929 asMember of Parliament (MP) forIsle of Thanet. He served in theAir Ministry from 1938 and wasMinister Resident inWest Africa, 1944–45. He was sworn in as a member of thePrivy Council of the United Kingdom in 1941. He left the House of Commons in 1945 and was raised to the peerage asBaron Balfour of Inchrye, of Shefford in the County of Berkshire. Balfour died on 21 September 1988 aged 90.
He was married twice in 1921 and 1946 with a son from the first marriage to Diana B. Harvey, and a daughter from the second. His second wife was Mary Ainslie Profumo (d. 1999), sister of the disgraced cabinet ministerJohn Profumo. After Profumo resigned andLord Hailsham attacked his morals, Balfour remarked on live television, "When a man has by self-indulgence acquired the shape of Lord Hailsham, sexual continence requires no more than a sense of the ridiculous". Balfour's son, diamond historianIan Balfour (1924–2013), became the 2nd Baron Balfour of Inchrye on his father's death; he married Josephina Maria Jane Bernard in 1953 – they had a daughter.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forIsle of Thanet 1929–1945 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for Air 1938–1944 jointly withLord Sherwood 1941–1944 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Senior Privy Counsellor 1984–1988 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Balfour of Inchrye 1945–1988 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
