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Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

(1848-1930), Prime Minister and philosopher

20th Century Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter in 140 portraits
Born at Whittingehame House, East Lothian and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge; Balfour first made his mark as a philosopher, publishing A Defence of Philosophic Doubt in 1879; he entered politics in 1874 through the patronage of his uncle, Lord Salisbury, as a Conservative member for Hertford; succeeded Salisbury as Prime Minister in 1902 but was unable to keep together a party divided by issues of Free Trade and Protectionism and resigned in 1905; during the First World War he worked as First Lord of the Admiralty and, from 1916 to 1919, as Foreign Secretary; Balfour continued in politics until the age of eighty, having served for twenty-seven years as a member of the cabinet.

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'Luncheon Party at the House of Commons', probably by Roland Parker Stone, for  Benjamin Stone - NPG x135568

'Luncheon Party at the House of Commons'

probably by Roland Parker Stone, for Benjamin Stone
platinum print, 17 July 1908
NPG x135568

'Luncheon Party at the House of Commons', by Roland Parker Stone, for  Benjamin Stone - NPG x135574

'Luncheon Party at the House of Commons'

by Roland Parker Stone, for Benjamin Stone
platinum print, 29 June 1909
NPG x135574

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, by Olive Edis - NPG x184

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

by Olive Edis
platinum print on photographer's card mount, 1914
NPG x184

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, by Olive Edis - NPG x185

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

by Olive Edis
matte bromide print on photographer's card mount, 1914
NPG x185

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, by Walter Stoneman, for  James Russell & Sons - NPG Ax39003

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

by Walter Stoneman, for James Russell & Sons
bromide print, circa 1916
NPG Ax39003

The Imperial War Cabinet, by Vandyk - NPG x32125

The Imperial War Cabinet

by Vandyk
10 x 12 inch glass negative, 25 June 1918
NPG x32125

The Imperial War Cabinet, by Vandyk - NPG x32126

The Imperial War Cabinet

by Vandyk
10 x 12 inch glass negative, 25 June 1918
NPG x32126

The Imperial War Cabinet, by Vandyk - NPG x32127

The Imperial War Cabinet

by Vandyk
10 x 12 inch glass negative, 25 June 1918
NPG x32127

The Imperial War Cabinet, by Vandyk - NPG x32124

The Imperial War Cabinet

by Vandyk
10 x 12 inch glass negative, 25 June 1918
NPG x32124

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