Researching John Burnett

Born in Scotland, Burnett moved to Vancouver in 1911 to escape the chaos that was building in Scotland at the time (may be due to the First World War). After completing his education in Vancouver, at the University of British Columbia, he became a member of the Epsilon Delta Chapter, Phi Delta Kappa. Burnett consulted the needs of both the students and the staff, and supported the welfare of educational organizations. He became more and more successful in the educational field, becoming the President of the BC Teachers Federation, and as an administrator in the Burnaby and Vancouver districts. In the second world war he served in the Irish Fusiliers, Vancouver Regiment, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After a stint in the Cariboo and Okanagan regions as an inspector of schools, he became director in various other areas. Burnett's efforts in improving the school infrastructure gave him an opportunity at being the prestigious District Superintendent of Schools in Richmond (1955). He continued his brilliant work promoting educational standards in the community, and remains today one of the pioneers of education in Greater Vancouver. Today, a school in Richmond is named in his honour, dubbed J.N. Burnett Secondary School.

Category:1899 birthsCategory:1989 deathsCategory:Education in British ColumbiaCategory:People from VancouverCategory:Scottish emigrants to CanadaCategory:University of British Columbia alumni

Originally from Nottingham, he studied at High Pavement School, and then read history and law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, then law at the University of London. He taught at Guildford Technical College and Borough Polytechnic before reading for a PhD in history at the London School of Economics.

The Burnett Archive of Working Class Autobiography, housed at Brunel University and containing over 230 autobiographies, was compiled by Burnett, David Vincent and David Mayall. Burnett, Vincent and Myall co-edited The Autobiography of the Working Class, in three volumes, based on their work on the archive.

Born at Alnwick in Northumberland, Burnett was an illegitimate son of John Burnett, a shoemaker, and Margaret Anderson. He was educated at the Duke of Northumberland's Charity School until he was orphaned at the age of twelve. He then went to live with an uncle on Tyneside, where he worked running errands. Two years later, he started an engineering apprenticeship, also studying courses at the Mechanics' Institute in his spare time.

Burnett became an active trade unionist. During the 1860s, he was involved with campaigns for Parliamentary reform, and for a half-holiday on Saturdays. He was a leader of the Nine Hours League, and in 1871, when he was working at William Armstrong's Elswick Works, where he led a strike from May to October demanding the nine-hour day. Public opinion was favourable, and donations from the public and trade unionists totalling £2000 enabled the men to stay out until the strike was won, in October. In addition, Burnett persuaded James Cohn from the International Working Men's Association to come to Tyneside and convince strikebreakers, many brought in from overseas, to leave.

Although Burnett was unable to return to work for Armstrong, Joseph Cowen found him work at the Newcastle Daily Chronicle. He was also active in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, and in 1875, he was elected as its general secretary, following the death of William Allan. He also served on the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, and from 1879 was elected annually as its treasurer.

Burnett was a critic of the apparent impact of Jewish immigration upon domestic labour standards, arguing in 1887 that ‘these aliens have chiefly been German and Russian Jews, and there can be no doubt that the result has been to flood the labour market of the East End of London with cheap labour to such an extent as to reduce thousands of native workers to the verge of destitution’.

In 1885, A. J. Mundella persuaded Burnett to give up his trade union posts and join the Board of Trade. There, he wrote reports on sweatshops before serving as joint secretary of the Royal Commission on Labour from 1892 to 1894, then returning to the Board of Trade as Chief Labour Correspondent, his principal roles being the production of statistics and arbitration in disputes.

Burnett retired in 1907, but served from 1909 until his death as a member of the Tailoring Board.