'Balfour1'
Index links to: Lead / Letter
Families covered: Balfour of Balfour, Balfour of Dovan, Balfour of Munquhanny, Balfour of Strathor
| 'Fife (P&H, vol 2, p71)' reported: "some etymologists have explained the name as having been derived in a roundabout fashion from bal, a town or residence, faidh, the foot or point, and orr, the designation of the river near whose margin the house stood." Denmylne reports that "Bal-orr is the orginal name". | |||||||||||||||
| Siward (a 1033, "came north from northumbria") | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Osulf (Aswulph) (a temp Malcolm Canmore who r. 1058-1093) | ||||||||||||||
| A. | Siward or Siwarth of Orr | ||||||||||||||
| i. | Octred of Strathor (a 1141) | ||||||||||||||
| a. | (Sir) Michael de Balfour of Strathor | ||||||||||||||
| (1) | William de Balfour of Lower Strathor | ||||||||||||||
| The following comes wholly from Denmylne following review/expansion of this page on 11.06.17. | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | Henry de Balfor (Balfour) of Balfour, Sheriff of Fife | ||||||||||||||
| (i) | Sir John de Balfor (Balfour) of Balfour, Sheriff of Fife (d Berwick 1296) | ||||||||||||||
| (a) | Sir Duncan de Balfor (Balfour) of Balfour, Sheriff of Fife (d Black Earnside 12.06.1298) | ||||||||||||||
| (b) | Sir John de Balfor (Balfour) of Balfour, Sheriff of Fife (a 1310) | ||||||||||||||
| ((1)) | Sir Michael de Balfor (Balfour) of Balfour, Sheriff of Fife (d 1344) | ||||||||||||||
| ((A)) | Sir John de Balfor (Balfour) of Balfour, Sheriff of Fife (dsp 1375) | ||||||||||||||
| ((B)) | Janet de Balfor (Balfour), heiress of Balfour | -- | |||||||||||||
| m. Sir Robert de Betun | -- | ||||||||||||||
| ((2)) | Adam de Balfour (d Durbam 1346) | ||||||||||||||
| m. ?? (granddau of Macduff, brother of Colbane, Earl of Fife) | |||||||||||||||
| ((A)) | Sir Malcolm de Balfour of Strathor & Pittencrief (a 1314) | ||||||||||||||
| The following connection is speculative! On p182 of vol 3 (1840) of 'History of the County of Fife', by John M. Leighton, is mentioned that this family "was descended from Peter Balfour, a younger son of Balfour of Balfour, who obtained from his father-in-law, Thomas Sibbald of Balgonie, a charter of the lands of Dovan in the reign of Robert III" (who r. 1390-1406). | |||||||||||||||
| ((3)) | Peter Balfour of Dovan possibly fits here | ||||||||||||||
| m. ?? Sibbald (dau of Thomas Sibbald of Balgonie) | |||||||||||||||
| ((A)) | ?? Balfour | ||||||||||||||
| Uncertain on number of intervening generations. | |||||||||||||||
| ((i)) | ?? Balfour | ||||||||||||||
| ((a)) | Andrew Balfour of Dovan (a 1483) | ||||||||||||||
| (2) | Michael de Balfour of Upper Stathor (a 1187) | ||||||||||||||
| (A) | Sir David de Balfour of Strathor & Ballo (d Tunis (on Crusade) 1269) | ||||||||||||||
| (i) | Sir Michael de Balfour of Strathor (d Falkirk 22.07.1298) | ||||||||||||||
| (a) | Sir David de Balfour of Strathor (d 1318) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Isabella MacDuff (dau of MacDuff of Reres, son of Malcolm, Earl of Fife, by dau of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales) | |||||||||||||||
| ((1)) | Sir Malcolm de Balfour of Strathor (d 1346?) | ||||||||||||||
| ((A)) | Sir Michael de Balfour of Strathor (d c1385) | ||||||||||||||
| (1) Denmylne reports that Sir Michael obtained "the valuable lands of Mountwhanney/Munquhanny in exchange for the poorer property of Pittencrieff". (2) This page was originally produced from notes taken from BLG1850 which show Sir Michael as father, by Marjory, of George, John & David. Those notes may have been mistaken! Denmylne shows as follows which is supported by BLG1858. |
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| ((i)) | Sir Laurence de Balfour of Munquhanny & Strathor (d c1429) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Marjory | |||||||||||||||
| ((a)) | George de Balfour of Munquhanny & Strathor (d c 1467) | -- | |||||||||||||
| m. Christian Lyndsay ("probably of the family of Byres") | -- | ||||||||||||||
| ((b)) | David Balfour of Carraldstone or Carriston | ||||||||||||||
| Denmylne reports that David's family "terminated in an heiress", the under-mentioned Isabel. She is identified in 'East Neuk of Fife' (Wood, 1887, p28+) as dau of this David, son of Lawrence of Strathor & Mountwhanney, but we suspect that there was at least one generation in-between. | |||||||||||||||
| (((1))) | (David?) Balfour of Carriston | ||||||||||||||
| (((A))) | Isabel Balfour (d by 1580) | ||||||||||||||
| m. (before 1553) John Seton, 1st of Cariston (d 1558) | |||||||||||||||
| ((c)) | John Balfour of Balgarvy & Burleigh (d by 1485) | -- | |||||||||||||
| (3) | Sir Ingelgramus de Balfour | ||||||||||||||
| (A) | Henry de Balfour | ||||||||||||||
Main source(s): 'Balfour History', referred to above and in other of the pages on the family as 'Denmylne' after the web site where it appears (linked to here), with thanks to a contributor (CT, 04.06.17) for drawing that to our attention, with support from BLG1886 ('Balfour of Balfour') and notes taken from BLG1850 ('Balfour of Trenaby')
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