Elizabeth Balfour

This portrait is by John Martin, a pupil of Allan Ramsay’s. It is unfinished, maybe because her mother didn’t pay the artist enough. Elizabeth (1745-1816) is clutching a dove. She is wearing a black band around her neck, in sympathy with the victims of the Terror. She married Captain William Wardlaw (4th of Abden) and lived at Whitehill with her brother, Major Ramsay, the house having been greatly improved by the addition of a Georgian front, and several extensions as the need arose. The couple had 4 children, but only Robert and the daughter appear to have survived to adulthood. Her husband and, later on, Robert, were away running ships for the East India Company. The deaths of her uncles, unmarried, and after prosperous careers, led to an accumulation of wealth. In 1823 General Balfour left an estate valued at £265,925 and his sister Ann an even more impressive estate of £299,198 in 1826. The General’s wealth passed chiefly to William Wardlaw his heir at Whitehill (Elizabeth having died in 1816) while Ann Balfour’s estate benefitted the children of her eldest brother, John, at Balbirnie.

Portrait of Elizabeth, ascribed to Allan Ramsay but probably by his assistant, John Martin. Note the black neck band, in sympathy with victims of the Terror. Does the dove stand for peace?

The Georgian front at Whitehill was extended to allow Elizabeth and her family to live alongside her brother, Major Ramsay.