| Earldom of Balfour | |
| Creation Date: | 5 May 1922 |
| Heir Presumptive: | Hon. Charles Balfour |
| Remainder To: | Special remainder |
| Subsidiary Titles: | Viscount Traprain |
| Status: | Extant |
| Family Seat: | Burpham Lodge |
| Former Seat: | Whittingehame House[1] |
| Motto: | VIRTUS AD ÆTHERA TENDIT ("Virtue strives towards heaven") |
Earl of Balfour is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 for Conservative politician Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905 and Foreign Secretary from 1916 to 1919.[2]
The earldom was created with special remainder, failing male issue of his own, to:
The latter two were the sons of his deceased youngest brother Colonel Eustace James Anthony Balfour. Balfour was made Viscount Traprain, of Whittingehame in the County of Haddington, at the same time as he was given the earldom. This title is also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created with similar remainder.[2]
Balfour never married, and was succeeded according to the special remainders by his younger brother Gerald, the second Earl. He was also a Conservative politician and notably served as Chief Secretary for Ireland, as President of the Board of Trade and as President of the Local Government Board. This line of the family failed on the death of his grandson, the fourth Earl, in 2003. the titles are held by his second cousin once removed, the fifth Earl. He is the grandson of the aforementioned Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour, nephew of the first Earl.[2]
The family seat is Burpham Lodge, near Arundel, Sussex.
The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother, the Hon. Charles George Yule Balfour (born 1951).
The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his son, George Eustace Charles Balfour (born 1991).