Tributes paid to Jean Balfour of Balbirnie, artist, landowner and conservationist

Jean Balfour of Balbirnie died on 27 February, aged 95. Her long and distinguished career is summed up in her Wikipedia entry as a “Scottish professional forester, landowner and conservationist”.
By John A. MacInnes
Published 2nd Mar 2023, 09:59 GMT
Updated 2nd Mar 2023, 10:01 GMT
Jean Balfour of BalbirnieJean Balfour of Balbirnie
Jean Balfour of Balbirnie

She was awarded a CBE in 1982 as well as making a major contribution to Falkland Estate’s forestry over a few decades.She was a talented watercolourist drawing from her love of nature and the landscape – in Fife, Sutherland and botanical expeditions to Iceland and Greenland.

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Jean Drew married John Balfour of Balbirnie in 1950 and was actively involved in the running of the estate. In the late 1960s the family quit 700 acres of Balbirnie and its mansion house to make way for the new town of Glenrothes, and moved to a newly built house at Kirkforthar.

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Her list of roles is long, varied and includes: Chairing the Countryside Commission for Scotland; a Governor of East Scotland Agriculture College for 30 years; chairing the Seafish Industry Authority; raising a family of three boys and serving as an Independent Councillor in Fife.Jean supported Michael Crichton Stuart and then his son Ninian in managing Falkland Estate’s forestry and running a small scale Lomond Forestry Syndicate between Balbirnie and Falkland Estates. She was also instrumental in establishing Lomond Hills Regional Park as Scotland’s first Regional Park Authority.She remained interested in politics, society and the environment to the end.