Burges, George (1780 -1864)

George Burges, the classical scholar, was the son of Thomas Burges, of Calcutta. Born in Bengal, he was sent to England after the early death of his father, and was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he matriculated at Michaelmas 1802. He was elected a Scholar in 1804; was a Prizeman, took his B.A. in 1807 and M.A. in 1810. He worked for many years as a private tutor in Cambridge, started up two coaches which plied up and down New Road in London, invented a flying machine, and a kind of corset. He published editions of Euripides and Plato, was granted a civil list pension of £100 per annum 7 June 1841, and kept a lodging house at Ramsgate from 1856 until his death in 1864. His library was sold by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge 16 July 1864.