Andrew Balfour
Encyclopedia
Sir Andrew Balfour KCMG, CB, LL D
(21 March 1873 – 30 January 1931) was a Scottish
Medical Officer who specialised in tropical medicine
. Balfour spent twelve years in Khartoum
, Sudan
and was the Medical Officer of Health in the city. Balfour is noted as a medical author and also wrote fiction novels, the majority of which were published from 1897 to 1903. In his youth Balfour was also a notable sportsman playing rugby union
for Cambridge University
in the Varsity Match
and was selected to represent the Scotland national team
.
on 21 March 1873 to Thomas Alexander Goldie Balfour. Balfour was educated at George Watson's College
before matriculating to Edinburgh University. He graduated from Edinburgh with a Bachelor of Medicine in 1894 and joined his father's medical practice. Within two years of leaving Edinburgh University, Balfour returned to education when he entered Caius College
at Cambridge University as an advanced student. Balfour spent his time in Cambridge specialising in the prevention of disease, the field in which he would concentrate the rest of his medical career. He studied under Kanthack, performing research work on typhoid fever
, and later spent a period of study at Strasbourg
, before taking the D.PH.
at Cambridge in 1897. He completed his MD in Edinburgh in 1898; his thesis on the toxicity of dyestuffs in relation to river pollution winning him the student gold medal.
In April 1900, Balfour travelled to South Africa to serve as a civil surgeon in the Second Boer War
. He was posted to Estcourt
as part of No. 7 General Hospital and later given duty at the pestilential typhoid camp in Pretoria
. Later in the campaign he was put in charge of the British Garrison and Boer Laagers at Kaapsehoop
. While in South Africa, Balfour contracted typhoid and returned to England before the end of 1901. During his time in South Africa, he came under the influence of the prominent Scottish parasitologist
Patrick Manson
, and from this period he became an ardent student of tropical medicine.
Balfour married in September 1902 to Grace, daughter of G Nutter of Sidcup, and the same year he was made the director of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratory in Khartoum in Sudan where he also took up the post of Medical Officer of Health. Within two years he was appointed sanitary advisor to the Sudanese government
. His new role within Sudan allowed Balfour to move in high profile social circles, bringing him into contact with the likes of Lord Cromer, Lord Kitchener
and Sir Reginald Wingate. During his time in Khartoum, he reduced deaths by malaria
by 90 per cent through the removal of mosquito breeding grounds and improving the city's clean water systems and sanitation. In 1907 the Khedive
awarded him the Fourth Class of the Imperial Ottoman Order of Osmanieh. The same period also saw Balfour contribute to four reports produced by the Wellcome Laboratory and in 1911 he co-wrote with Major R.G. Archibald a review of the advances in tropical medicine
, which anticipated the work of the Tropical Disease Bureau which was set up in 1912.
His time in Africa also saw Balfour oversee the introduction of a floating laboratory, a gift from Dr Henry Wellcome to the Sudan Government. This allowed the department to conduct scientific work in the upper reaches of the Nile
, and aided the understanding of diseases of the blood. Balfour's most notable work during this period was on spirochaetosis. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1912 King's Birthday Honours. After suffering from ill-health in Africa, he returned to Britain in 1913, to found the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research in London, and to organise what would later become the Wellcome Museum of Medical Science. 1913 also saw Balfour travel South America and the West Indies for research purposes.
With the outbreak of World War I, Balfour again joined the British war effort. Serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps
, he reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Originally posted in France in 1914, he was later a member of the medical advisory committee in Mudros, Salonica and Egypt. After returning to England he was given the role of scientific adviser to the Inspector Surgeon General
of the British forces in East Africa
. During the war he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1918 New Year Honours
, and was Mentioned in Despatches on 12 February 1918. He relinquished his commission on 31 May 1919. In 1920 he was awarded the Mary Kingsley award by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
In 1923 Balfour was appointed Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
, and oversaw the construction of a new school. He also served as president of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
in 1925–1927. In 1929 he suffered from a nervous breakdown, believed to have been caused by the pressures of his new post; and although the British Medical Journal reported he fully recovered; other sources state his breakdown was complete. In the 1930 New Year Honours he was promoted Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, thus becoming Sir Andrew Balfour; but was later admitted to Cassel Hospital
in Penshurst
, Kent to be treated for clinical depression. His frozen body was found on 30 January in the grounds of the hospital after he had fallen from a window. He was survived by his wife and two sons, and he was buried in his birth-city of Edinburgh.
, a club for former pupils of George Watson's College. It was while representing Watsonians that he was selected to play for the Scotland national team, in the opening game of the 1896 Home Nations Championship
. At the age of 22, he was placed into his favoured position in the pack, in a Scottish team that contained two fellow Watsonians, Harry Oswald Smith and Robin Welsh
. Wales won the game by two tries
to nil. Despite the loss, Balfour would play in the remaining two games of the tournament, a scoreless draw away against Ireland and then an impressive win over England, which gave Scotland the Calcutta Cup
for the fourth successive year. The following season (1896/97), Balfour had enrolled at Cambridge and won a place in the Cambridge University team. He played in the first of two Varsity Matches
at the end of 1896 winning his first sporting 'Blue' in a victory over Oxford University.
Just a month later, the 1897 Home Nations Championship
was underway, but Balfour was not selected for the national team, and would not rejoin the team until the final match of the competition, an away encounter with England. Scotland lost the game and Balfour never represented the team again. Balfour was still in favour with Cambridge, and was part of the University team to win the Varsity Match in 1897.
After his playing career came to an end, Balfour continued his association with rugby union as a supporter of London Scottish F.C.
, and became a national selector for the Scottish Rugby Union
. During the 1929/30 season, Balfour was made Vice-President of the Scottish Rugby Union, the President being Sir Augustus Asher
. The next season Balfour took on the role of President of the SRU, but did not complete the term due to his untimely death.
Novels
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
(21 March 1873 – 30 January 1931) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Medical Officer who specialised in tropical medicine
Tropical medicine
Tropical medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with health problems that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or prove more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions....
. Balfour spent twelve years in Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and was the Medical Officer of Health in the city. Balfour is noted as a medical author and also wrote fiction novels, the majority of which were published from 1897 to 1903. In his youth Balfour was also a notable sportsman playing rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
for Cambridge University
Cambridge University R.U.F.C.
The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...
in the Varsity Match
The Varsity Match
The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. By tradition, the match is held on the second Tuesday of December. In 2005, however, this changed, and the match was on Tuesday 6 December. In 2007, it was held on a Thursday for...
and was selected to represent the Scotland national team
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
.
Personal and professional history
Balfour was born in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
on 21 March 1873 to Thomas Alexander Goldie Balfour. Balfour was educated at George Watson's College
George Watson's College
George Watson's College, known informally as Watson's, is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871 and was merged with its sister school...
before matriculating to Edinburgh University. He graduated from Edinburgh with a Bachelor of Medicine in 1894 and joined his father's medical practice. Within two years of leaving Edinburgh University, Balfour returned to education when he entered Caius College
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
at Cambridge University as an advanced student. Balfour spent his time in Cambridge specialising in the prevention of disease, the field in which he would concentrate the rest of his medical career. He studied under Kanthack, performing research work on typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
, and later spent a period of study at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, before taking the D.PH.
Professional degrees of public health
The Master of Public Health and the Doctor of Public Health are multi-disciplinary professional degrees awarded for studies in areas related to public health....
at Cambridge in 1897. He completed his MD in Edinburgh in 1898; his thesis on the toxicity of dyestuffs in relation to river pollution winning him the student gold medal.
In April 1900, Balfour travelled to South Africa to serve as a civil surgeon in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. He was posted to Estcourt
Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal
Estcourt is a town in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The main economic activity is farming with large bacon and processed food factories situated around the town. The N3 freeway passes close to the town, linking it to the rest of South Africa.-Location:Estcourt is...
as part of No. 7 General Hospital and later given duty at the pestilential typhoid camp in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
. Later in the campaign he was put in charge of the British Garrison and Boer Laagers at Kaapsehoop
Kaapsehoop
Kaapsehoop is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It is situated 1486 m above sea level on the Highveld escarpment, about 25 km from Nelspruit, the capital of Mpumalanga...
. While in South Africa, Balfour contracted typhoid and returned to England before the end of 1901. During his time in South Africa, he came under the influence of the prominent Scottish parasitologist
Parasitology
Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life...
Patrick Manson
Patrick Manson
Sir Patrick Manson was a Scottish physician who made important discoveries in parasitology and was the founder of the tropical medicine field....
, and from this period he became an ardent student of tropical medicine.
Balfour married in September 1902 to Grace, daughter of G Nutter of Sidcup, and the same year he was made the director of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratory in Khartoum in Sudan where he also took up the post of Medical Officer of Health. Within two years he was appointed sanitary advisor to the Sudanese government
Politics of Sudan
Officially, the politics of Sudan takes place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic consociationalist republic, where the President of Sudan is Head of State, Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces in a multi-party system...
. His new role within Sudan allowed Balfour to move in high profile social circles, bringing him into contact with the likes of Lord Cromer, Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
and Sir Reginald Wingate. During his time in Khartoum, he reduced deaths by malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
by 90 per cent through the removal of mosquito breeding grounds and improving the city's clean water systems and sanitation. In 1907 the Khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
awarded him the Fourth Class of the Imperial Ottoman Order of Osmanieh. The same period also saw Balfour contribute to four reports produced by the Wellcome Laboratory and in 1911 he co-wrote with Major R.G. Archibald a review of the advances in tropical medicine
Tropical medicine
Tropical medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with health problems that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or prove more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions....
, which anticipated the work of the Tropical Disease Bureau which was set up in 1912.
His time in Africa also saw Balfour oversee the introduction of a floating laboratory, a gift from Dr Henry Wellcome to the Sudan Government. This allowed the department to conduct scientific work in the upper reaches of the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, and aided the understanding of diseases of the blood. Balfour's most notable work during this period was on spirochaetosis. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1912 King's Birthday Honours. After suffering from ill-health in Africa, he returned to Britain in 1913, to found the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research in London, and to organise what would later become the Wellcome Museum of Medical Science. 1913 also saw Balfour travel South America and the West Indies for research purposes.
With the outbreak of World War I, Balfour again joined the British war effort. Serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
, he reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Originally posted in France in 1914, he was later a member of the medical advisory committee in Mudros, Salonica and Egypt. After returning to England he was given the role of scientific adviser to the Inspector Surgeon General
Surgeon-General (United Kingdom)
The Surgeon-General is the senior medical officer of the British Armed Forces; the post is held by the senior of the three individual service medical directors....
of the British forces in East Africa
East African Campaign (World War I)
The East African Campaign was a series of battles and guerrilla actions which started in German East Africa and ultimately affected portions of Mozambique, Northern Rhodesia, British East Africa, Uganda, and the Belgian Congo. The campaign was effectively ended in November 1917...
. During the war he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1918 New Year Honours
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the New Year annually in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II...
, and was Mentioned in Despatches on 12 February 1918. He relinquished his commission on 31 May 1919. In 1920 he was awarded the Mary Kingsley award by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
In 1923 Balfour was appointed Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a constituent college of the federal University of London, specialising in public health and tropical medicine...
, and oversaw the construction of a new school. He also served as president of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President is generally acknowledged as the father of tropical medicine. He passed the presidency on to the Nobel laureate Sir Ronald Ross ,...
in 1925–1927. In 1929 he suffered from a nervous breakdown, believed to have been caused by the pressures of his new post; and although the British Medical Journal reported he fully recovered; other sources state his breakdown was complete. In the 1930 New Year Honours he was promoted Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, thus becoming Sir Andrew Balfour; but was later admitted to Cassel Hospital
Cassel Hospital
The Cassel Hospital was founded and endowed by Ernest Cassel in England in 1919. It was initially for the treatment of "shell shock" victims. Originally in Penshurst, Kent, it moved to Stoke-on-Trent during World War II. In 1948 it relocated to its present site at No...
in Penshurst
Penshurst
Penshurst is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, west of Tonbridge. Within the parish boundaries are the two villages of Penshurst and Fordcombe, with a combined population of some 1,479 persons. The...
, Kent to be treated for clinical depression. His frozen body was found on 30 January in the grounds of the hospital after he had fallen from a window. He was survived by his wife and two sons, and he was buried in his birth-city of Edinburgh.
Rugby career
Balfour was a keen sportsman, and as a youth was an amateur boxer and notable rugby player. His first came to note as a rugby player when he represented WatsoniansWatsonians RFC
Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, but now accepts players who did not attend the school...
, a club for former pupils of George Watson's College. It was while representing Watsonians that he was selected to play for the Scotland national team, in the opening game of the 1896 Home Nations Championship
1896 Home Nations Championship
The 1896 Home Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 4 January and 14 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...
. At the age of 22, he was placed into his favoured position in the pack, in a Scottish team that contained two fellow Watsonians, Harry Oswald Smith and Robin Welsh
Robin Welsh
Robin Welsh was a Scottish sportsman who represented Britain as a curler in the Winter Olympics, represented Scotland at tennis and played international rugby union for Scotland....
. Wales won the game by two tries
Try
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
to nil. Despite the loss, Balfour would play in the remaining two games of the tournament, a scoreless draw away against Ireland and then an impressive win over England, which gave Scotland the Calcutta Cup
Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is a rugby union trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Six Nations Championship match between England and Scotland. It is currently England's since the 2009 Six Nations Championship....
for the fourth successive year. The following season (1896/97), Balfour had enrolled at Cambridge and won a place in the Cambridge University team. He played in the first of two Varsity Matches
The Varsity Match
The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. By tradition, the match is held on the second Tuesday of December. In 2005, however, this changed, and the match was on Tuesday 6 December. In 2007, it was held on a Thursday for...
at the end of 1896 winning his first sporting 'Blue' in a victory over Oxford University.
Just a month later, the 1897 Home Nations Championship
1897 Home Nations Championship
The 1897 Home Nations Championship was the fifteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Four matches were played between 9 January and 13 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
was underway, but Balfour was not selected for the national team, and would not rejoin the team until the final match of the competition, an away encounter with England. Scotland lost the game and Balfour never represented the team again. Balfour was still in favour with Cambridge, and was part of the University team to win the Varsity Match in 1897.
After his playing career came to an end, Balfour continued his association with rugby union as a supporter of London Scottish F.C.
London Scottish F.C.
London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. It is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union.-History:...
, and became a national selector for the Scottish Rugby Union
Scottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...
. During the 1929/30 season, Balfour was made Vice-President of the Scottish Rugby Union, the President being Sir Augustus Asher
A.G.G. Asher
Sir Augustus Gordon Grant Asher CBE was a Scottish international rugby and cricket player.-Biography:Grant Asher was born in India in 1861....
. The next season Balfour took on the role of President of the SRU, but did not complete the term due to his untimely death.
Literary career
Outside the medical profession, for which he wrote several papers and publications, Balfour was also a keen writer of adventure novels. In 1897, while still at Cambridge University, he completed and saw published, his first novel By Stroke of Sword. Balfour's novels were historical adventures, mainly set in Scotland and many having connections with his own medical background.Written works
Medical- Medicine, Public Health and Preventive Medicine (with C. J. Lewis, 1902)
- Memoranda on Medical Diseases in Tropical and Sub-Tropical Areas (1916)
- War Against Tropical Disease (1920)
- Reports to the Health Committee of the League of Nations on Tuberculosis and Sleeping Sickness in Equatorial Africa (1923)
- Health Problems of the Empire (with H. H. Scott, 1924)
Novels
- By Stroke of Sword (1897)
- To Arms! (1898) Available at OpenLibrary
- Vengeance is Mine (1899) Available at OpenLibrary
- Cashiered and Other War Stories (1902)
- The Golden Kingdom (1903) Available at OpenLibrary