James Balfour Paul

Sir James Balfour Paul KCVOCStJFSAS
Sir James Balfour Paul
Lord Lyon King of Arms
In office 1890–1927
Preceded by	George Burnett
Succeeded by	George Swinton
Personal details
Born	(1846-11-16)16 November 1846 Edinburgh
Died	15 September 1931(1931-09-15)(aged 84) Edinburgh
Resting place	Dean Cemetery
Nationality	Scottish

30 Heriot Row, Edinburgh

The grave of Sir James Balfour Paul, Dean Cemetery

Sir James Balfour PaulKCVOCStJFSAS(16 November 1846 – 15 September 1931) was theLord Lyon King of Arms,the officer responsible forheraldryinScotland,from 1890 until the end of 1926.

Life

Balfour Paul was born inEdinburgh,the second son of the ReverendJohn PaulofSt Cuthbert's Church, Edinburghand Margaret Balfour (granddaughter ofJames BalfourofPilrig), at their home, 13George Square, Edinburgh.His great-grandfather was Sir William Moncreiff, 7th Baronet.He was educated atRoyal High SchoolandUniversity of Edinburgh.

He was admitted anadvocatein 1870. Thereafter, he was Registrar ofFriendly Societies(1879–1890), Treasurer of theFaculty of Advocates(1883–1902), and appointed Lord Lyon King of Arms in 1890. He was created aKnight Bachelorin the1900 New Year Honourslist,and received the knighthood on 9 February 1900.Among his works wasThe Scots Peerage,a nine-volume series published from 1904 to 1914.

He tried two interesting heraldic cases inCourt of the Lord Lyon,the first being in 1909, when Sir Colin Macrae claimed the right to use thecoat of armsasChief of the NameofClan Macrae,which was opposed by ColonelJohn MacRae-Gilstrap.The second was action brought against Mrs. Fraser Mackenzie by ColonelJames Stewart-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth,in connection with the bearing of arms in right of her father. In the second case, the Lyon's ruling was upheld on appeal by theHouse of Lords.

Shortly before his retirement in 1926, he was appointed a Knight Commander of theRoyal Victorian Order(KCVO) in the1926 New Year Honourslist.He was also admitted an Esquire and then a Commander of theOrder of St John of Jerusalem,elected a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland,and was a member of the Royal Societies and University (Edinburgh) Clubs. He was also Secretary of theOrder of the Thistle.He gave theRhind Lecturesin 1898, on heraldry.

He resided at 30 Heriot Row, Edinburgh. Sir James married, in 1872, Helen Margaret (d. 20 December 1929), daughter of John Nairne Forman ofStaffa(WS). They had four children: three sons and a daughter. One son,John William,also became a heraldic officer, while another,Arthur Forman,became an architect and partner ofRobert Rowand Anderson.

Sir James is buried with other family inDean Cemeteryin Edinburgh, in the north section immediately east of the opening in the wall between the original cemetery and the north extension.

Published works

• History of the Royal Company of Archer(1875)
• (ed.) Record Series ofRegistrum Magni Sigilli(1882–1883)
• Handbook to the Parliament House(1884)
• Heraldry in relation to Scottish History and Art(1890)
• An Ordinary of Arms Contained in thePublic Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland(1893) 1st ed., (1903) 2nd ed.
• Memoir and Remains of John M. Grayin 2 vols. (1895)
• (ed.)The Scots PeerageVol. I (1904), with successive volumes up to Vol. IX (1914)
• (ed.)Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of ScotlandVols. II–XI, 1900–1916
  • Vol. 2: AD 1500–1504. 1900;Vol. 3: AD 1506–1507. 1901;Vol. 4: AD 1507–1513. 1902;Vol. 5: AD 1515–1531. 1903; Vol. 6: AD 1531–1538. 1905; Vol. 7: AD 1538–1541. 1907;Vol. 8: AD 1541–1546. 1908;Vol. 9: AD 1546–1551. 1911; Vol. 10: AD 1551–1559. 1913; Vol. 11: AD 1559–1566. 1916.
• "Ancient Artillery, with some notes on Mons Meg" inThe Proceedings of theSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland,volume 50, 1915–1916, pps: 191–201
• (ed.),Diary of George Ridpath, Minister of Stitchell, 1755–1761;Scottish History Society(1922)

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of James Balfour Paul

Crest A lion sejant guardant gules, his dexter paw resting upon an escutcheon as in the arms; and in an escroll over the same this Escutcheon Parted per pale, on the dexter side: argent, a lion sejan full-faced gules, holding in the dexter paw a thistle slipped vert, and in the sinister a shield of the second, on a chief azure, a Saint Andrew's Cross of the field(official coat ofLord Lyon King of Arms)on the sinister, or, a chevron indented sable between two lions rampant in chief, and an escutcheon in base gules(Balfour Paul) Motto Pro rege et republica( "For King and Commonwealth" ) Other elements Behind the shield are placed in saltire two batons representing that belonging to his office and round the shield is placed a gold collar of SS, and a triple chain also of gold, and depending from it the proper badge of Lyon King of Arms

References

Sources

• Paul, James Balfour(1912).Some Pauls of Glasgow and their descendants. The scanty record of an obscure family.Edinburgh: Printed for private circulation.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
• Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed, and Official Classes, 1903,London, p. 1156.

Further reading

• Douglas, Robert, Sir (1904–1914), Paul, James Balfour, Sir (ed.),The Scots Peerage(nine volumes ed.), Wood's,retrieved4 January2024{{citation}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)–Volume IXcontains the index for the other eight volumes.

External links

Works related toObituary: Sir James Balfour Paulat Wikisource

• Family tree^[usurped]