Joseph Burtt (17 November 1818 – 17 December 1876) was an archivist and an Assistant Keeper of the Public Records.

Biography

Burtt began working in the public service in 1832 at the

Chapter House A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

under

Sir Francis Palgrave Sir Francis Palgrave, (; born Francis Ephraim Cohen, July 1788 – 6 July 1861) was an English archivist and historian. He was Deputy Keeper (chief executive) of the Public Record Office from its foundation in 1838 until his death; and he is ...

, and in 1840 became a member of staff at the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

. Having been appointed an Assistant Keeper of the Records of the Second Class in 1851, Burtt was appointed a first-class status in 1859, and held this position until his death. Burtt oversaw the moving of the Public Records from the

to a newly designated repository in Fetter Lane, and organised their cataloguing. He was appointed to oversee the transport and safety of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

on its journeys to Southampton between 1861 and 1864 to be photozincographed by Colonel Sir Henry James at the offices of the

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, and assisted James in some aspects of the task. Later in life Burtt became a notable figure in British archaeology, becoming secretary of the

Royal Archaeological Institute The Royal Archaeological Institute (RAI) is a learned society, established in 1844, with interests in all aspects of the archaeological, architectural and landscape history of the British Isles. Membership is open to all with an interest in these ...

in 1862, also contributing to the

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

and The Athenaeum, amongst others. Burtt died as a result of illness at his home in Tulse Hill, London on 17 December 1876.

Edmund Venables Edmund Venables (5 July 1819 in Queenhithe, London – 5 March 1895 in Lincoln) was an English cleric and antiquarian. Life Born at 17 Queenhithe, London on 5 July 1819, he was third son of William Venables (d. 1840), paper-maker and stationer at ...

, ‘Burtt, Joseph (1818–1876)’, rev. G. H. Martin, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200

Joseph Burtt (1818–1876):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burtt English archivists 1818 births 1876 deaths