Burgess was born on 14 August 1832 in
Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire. He was educated at Dumfries and then the
University of Glasgow and the
University of Edinburgh. He did educational work in
Calcutta, 1856 and
Bombay, 1861, and was Secretary of the Bombay Geographical Society 1868–73. He was Head of the Archaeological Survey, Western India, 1873, and of South India, 1881. From 1886 to 1889 he was Director General,
Archaeological Survey of India. He retired to
Edinburgh around 1892. He was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1894. He won its
Keith Medal for 1897–99, and served as their Vice President 1908 to 1914. He died on 3 October 1916, at 22 Seton Place in Edinburgh. ==Selected publications==