He was born in Forfar, Scotland in 1851, the son of David Balfour and Janet Douglas, and came to St. Catharines, Canada West, with his family in 1857.

[1] In 1884, Balfour reported that he had been offered a bribe to withdraw his support from the government of Oliver Mowat.

Balfour also introduced a bill in 1884 which authorized Delos Rogest Davis, the son of a former slave, to practice law in Ontario.

He died in office in Toronto a short time later that year, aged 45, from complications caused by tuberculosis and was buried at Amherstburg.

[1] His son, David A. Balfour, became a prominent municipal politician in Toronto.