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Andrew Balfour
Fellow
Date of Fellowship admission: 29 November 1681
Andrew Balfour was one of the original twenty-one Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh when it was incorporated by royal charter on 29 November 1681. Born in Fife on 18 January 1630, the fifth and youngest son of Sir Michael Balfour, he was educated at the parish school and studied philosophy at the University of St Andrews, graduating MA in 1650. Balfour travelled to London, where he was presented to Charles II and appointed tutor to the young Earl of Rochester, whom he accompanied on a grand tour from 1661 to 1664. During his travels he assembled an extensive collection of medical and natural history books and specimens. By 1670 he had established a medical practice in Edinburgh and, with his cousin Robert Sibbald, created a physic garden that became the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. Balfour was instrumental in founding the College in 1681.
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Year of medical qualification
1650
Fellowship
The main qualification issued by the College, awarded regularly since the College’s foundation. This qualification was granted based on demonstrated breadth of experience and did not require an individual to pass a certain examination.