Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh

The son of Robert Bruce, at one time Member of Parliament for Clackmannan, he was born in Kennet in that county and educated at Loretto, Eton and Oriel College, Oxford. In 1868, four years after his death, Robert Bruce's claim to the peerage was recognised by the House of Lords, and so his son became sixth Lord Balfour of Burleigh on the reversal of the title's attainder by Bruce's Restitution Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 11 Pr.).

Balfour was Governor of the Bank of Scotland from 1904 to 1921.

Balfour married Lady Katherine Eliza, youngest daughter of the George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen, in 1876. They had two sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Robert Bruce, Master of Burleigh, was killed in the First World War. After his death the heir to the lordship transferred to his second son, George John Gordon Bruce, 7th Lord Balfour of Burleigh (1883–1967).

His eldest daughter, Mary Bruce, married Sir John Augustus Hope, 16th Baronet. His younger daughter, Hon Victoria Alexandrina Katherine Bruce, had a career in the prison service and was the first woman Governor of a prison in Scotland.

Lord Burleigh of Balfour died at Cadogan Square, London, in July 1921, aged 72. He was buried in Clackmannan Churchyard. Lady Balfour of Burleigh died in February 1931, aged 78.

In 1876 Balfour was elected a Scottish representative peer. Six years later, he was made an Education Commissioner for Scotland, and in 1887 he entered Lord Salisbury's administration as a Lord-in-waiting. The following year, Lord Balfour became Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, a position he held until the Liberals returned to power in 1892, and for three years he chaired the London Water Supply Commission until his return to government as Secretary for Scotland in 1895.

On 4 February 1903, Balfour opened the new purpose-built Leith Nautical College.

Balfour was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1901. Balfour resigned office in 1903 with the split that occurred in the Conservative and Unionist Party over Joseph Chamberlain's campaign for tariff reform, a campaign which he opposed.