The Orkney Balfours 1747-99

In the sixteenth century a branch of the Balfours was established in Orkney by Gilbert Balfour, followed by a line of Balfour lairds throughout the seventeenth century and into the eighteenth century. This examination of the family during the years 1747 to 1799 is a story of worldly success and social advancement, tempered by trials, tribulations and deaths, and entering with two tragedies.