Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, England, United Kingdom
At Edinburgh University Balfour obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1873.
Gallery of Isaac Balfour
the University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom
In 1884 Balfour received his Master of Arts degree (MA) from the University of Oxford.
Gallery of Isaac Balfour
the University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Balfour received the Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) from the University of Glasgow in 1901.
Career
Gallery of Isaac Balfour
1922
Isaac Bayley Balfour at his lectern, March 1922.
Gallery of Isaac Balfour
Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour
Gallery of Isaac Balfour
Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour
Achievements
Membership
the Royal Society
1884 - 1922
the Royal Society, London, England, United KIngdom
Balfour was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1884.
Awards
the Victoria Medal of Honour of the Royal Horticultural Society
1897
Balfour was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour of the Royal Horticultural Society.
the Linnean Medal
1919
Balfour was awarded the the Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year.
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)
1920
Balfour was awarded Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).
Balfour was awarded the the Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year.
the University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Balfour received the Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) from the University of Glasgow in 1901.
Connections
ancestor: James Hutton
Son: Bay Balfour
Bay was born to Isaac Bayley Balfour and his wife Agnes on the 19th October 1889, the year after Balfour became Regius Keeper at RBGE, meaning Bay would have spent his childhood with older sister Senga in Inverleith House within the Garden grounds, at that time the Regius Keeper’s residence.
associate: Reginald John Farrer
Reginald John Farrer (17 February 1880 – 17 October 1920), was a traveller and plant collector. He published a number of books, although is best known for My Rock Garden. He travelled to Asia in search of a variety of plants, many of which he brought back to England and planted near his home village of Clapham, North Yorkshire.
Annals of Botany, Vol. 20: With Thirty-Five Plates, Map, and Forty-Three Figures in the Text (Classic Reprint)
(In the hope of gaining some new light upon the vexed ques...)
In the hope of gaining some new light upon the vexed question of the relationships of the Monocotyledons, the writer has undertaken the present study of the Cyperaceae, a group which is especially interesting on account of its apparently somewhat isolated position and its clearly-marked characters.
Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour was a British botanist. He is noted for his service as the Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford from 1884 to 1888, and Professor of Botany at the University of Edinburgh from 1888 to 1922.
Background
Isaac Bayley Balfour was born on March 31, 1853 in Edinburgh. Balfour possessed a distinguished academic pedigree: his father, John Hutton Balfour, was professor of botany at Edinburgh University and his mother, Marion Spottiswood Bayley, was the daughter of Isaac Bayley, writer to the signet; his ancestry also included George H. Baird, principal of Edinburgh University, and geologist James Hutton.
Education
At Edinburgh University Balfour obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1873 and M.B. in 1877, then continued his botanical studies, particularly morphology and physiology, at the universities of Wtlrzburg and Strasbourg. In 1875 he received his Doctor of Science degree (DSc) from the University of Edinburgh. In 1877 he was awarded Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree (MB,ChB) by the University of Edinburgh. In 1884 Balfour received his Master of Arts degree (MA) from the University of Oxford. Balfour received the Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) from the University of Glasgow in 1901.
After obtaining his M.B. degree in 1877, and going along with his botanical studies, particularly morphology and physiology, Balfour accompanied the transit of Venus expedition to Rodriguez Island in 1874 as botanist and geologist. The botanical results of this expedition, published in the Philosophical Transactions in 1879, clearly indicated that Balfour was a taxonomist of considerable promise. In 1879-1880 he collected plants on the island of Socotra, and in 1888 published his description of the island’s flora, which included many new species. He observed that the flora had affinities with that of the African mainland and argued that Socotra had once formed part of that continent.
After his appointment to the chair of botany at Glasgow University in 1879, Balfour revealed his capacity for organization. In his five years there he rebuilt the principal range of greenhouses, saved the herbarium from imminent destruction, and improved the laboratory facilities for students.
In 1884 he was elected Sherardian professor of botany at Oxford, where his energy and administrative skill revitalized the ancient but neglected botanic garden. The herbaceous beds were remodeled, and the valuable herbarium and library thoroughly reorganized. Having established good relations with the Clarendon Press in Oxford, he persuaded them to undertake, under his editorship, the publication of translations of standard German botanical texts. The press also launched the Annals of Botany in 1887, with Balfour as joint editor with S. H. Vines and W. G. Farlow until 1912.
He moved to Edinburgh in 1888 as professor of botany, queen’s botanist in Scotland, and Regius keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, holding these offices, as did his father before him, for thirty-four years. During this time Balfour gradually accomplished many of his desired reforms: a massive wall that obstructed the redesigning of the botanic garden was removed; the plant collections were enriched, particularly with alpines, for which a splendid new rock garden was created; and the greenhouses were rebuilt. Under his direction Edinburgh became an exemplar of horticultural practice.
A capacity for unrelenting work brought Balfour distinction in several fields of activity: taxonomy, teaching, horticulture, and administration. The pressures of a full life never hindered his botanical research, in which he concentrated on Rhododendron and Primula. His taxonomic papers on these two genera appeared in Notes From the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, which he founded in 1900.
Balfour was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1884.
the Royal Society
,
United Kingdom
1884 - 1922
Connections
Balfour married Agnes Boyd in 1884, and had one son and one daughter. He lost his only son, also named Isaac Bayley, or ‘Bay’, at Gallipoli in June 1915.
In 1919 Balfour was awarded the the Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year.
In 1919 Balfour was awarded the the Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year.