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Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh

British politician (1849-1921)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ4718450 ↗
Source-derived summary

Alexander Hugh Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, (13 January 1849 – 6 July 1921) was a Scottish Unionist politician, banker and statesman, who took a leading part in the affairs of the Church of Scotland. He was Secretary for Scotland between 1895 and 1903.

Background

The son of Robert Bruce, at one time Member of Parliament for Clackmannan, he was born in Kennet in that county and educated at Loretto, Eton and Oriel College, Oxford. In 1868, four years after his death, Robert Bruce's claim to the peerage was recognised by the House of Lords, and so his son became sixth Lord Balfour of Burleigh on the reversal of the title's attainder by Bruce's Restitution Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 11 Pr.).

Political career

In 1876 Balfour was elected a Scottish representative peer. Six years later, he was made an Education Commissioner for Scotland, and in 1887 he entered Lord Salisbury's administration as a Lord-in-waiting. The following year, Lord Balfour became Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, a position he held until the Liberals returned to power in 1892, and for three years he chaired the London Water Supply Commission until his return to government as Secretary for Scotland in 1895.

On 4 February 1903, Balfour opened the new purpose-built Leith Nautical College.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh” as british politician (1849-1921). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alexander, Bruce and Lord.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1849, 1921, 1895, 1903—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1849-01-13. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Alexander, Bruce and Lord providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh”, the useful work is to connect “british politician (1849-1921)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4718450. VIAF identifies the subject as 92864851. The Library of Congress control number is no2006037151. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1849, 1921, 1895 and 1903.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh primary sources, Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh archive and Alexander research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.