Eldest son of Robert Burrows, silversmith, of Ipswich, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of James Cordy, of London, was born at Ipswich on August 5th, 1813. He was educated at the Ipswich Grammar School and apprenticed to William Jeffreson, surgeon, of Framlingham. He completed his medical education at the United Borough Hospitals, and directly after he qualified acted as assistant to Edward Dix at Brighton from 1837-1839, and then commenced practice in Old Steine on his own account. He soon began to take part in the public life of Brighton, and in 1841 he projected with Dr Turrell the Royal Literary and Scientific Institute. He also took part in founding the Brighton Mechanics Institute, of which he was Secretary from 1841-1857 and afterward Treasurer. In 1849 he was one of the Town Committee who bought the Royal Pavilion from the Commissioners of Woods and Forests for the sum of £53,000; and when a Charter was granted to Brighton he was returned at the head of the poll for Pavilion Ward. His services were recognized on October 13th, 1871, when his fellow-townsmen presented him with a handsome carriage and a pair of horses. Two years later, on February 5th, 1873, he received the honour of knighthood as a result of a petition that his great services to Brighton might receive some recognition. Burrows was Brigade Surgeon of the Brighton Artillery Corps and Chairman of the Lifeboat Committee. He was one of the two promoters of the Extramural Cemetery, and at his own personal expense he obtained the order for discontinuing burials in the churches, chapels, and graveyards of the town. He also directed attention to the sanitary condition of Brighton, and under his advice the Health of Town Act was adopted. In 1846 he raised money for erecting a fountain on the Steine, and there laid out and planted the enclosures near it entirely at his own cost. His pet aversions were street-organ players and itinerant hawkers. He died at 62 Old Steine, Brighton, on March 25th, 1876, and was buried in the Extramural Cemetery. He married on October 19th, 1842, Jane, daughter of Arthur Dendy, of Dorking. She died in 1877, leaving one son, William Seymour Burrows, who succeeded his father in practice.