Edward Burgess (yacht Designer)

Edward Burgess (1848–1891) was an American yacht designer. Several of his boats won fame in the waters of the eastern United States.

Early life and education

Edward Burgess was born in West Sandwich, Massachusetts on June 30, 1848, the fifth son of Benjamin Franklin Burgess (1818–1909) and Cordelia Williams Ellis (1821–1876). The Burgess family were merchants who made their money in the West Indies trade and lost it in 1879.

Burgess was educated at Harvard, graduating in 1871, and became secretary of the Boston Society of Natural History, in which capacity he edited the publications of the society, and published several memoirs on anatomical subjects. In 1879, he became instructor in entomology at Harvard, remaining until 1883. He traveled in Europe and, in an amateur way, studied the principles of naval architecture, bringing his knowledge and judgment to the practical test of designing and building vessels for his own use. He relied on this when he turned to the design of sailing yachts for a living in 1883.

Yacht design

Several of his boats won fame in the waters of the eastern United States. He designed ''Constellation'', the largest steel hull schooner at the time, for E.D. Morgan in 1889. In 1884, a committee of Bostonians selected him to design a large sloop yacht to represent the United States in a series of international races. From his designs, ''Puritan'' was built; she easily defeated ''Genesta'' (English) for the America's Cup in 1885. This was a remarkable triumph as it was the first attempt of an American designer to solve certain shipbuilding problems to which Englishmen had given their attention for a score of years.

In 1886, his ''Mayflower'', slightly larger than ''Puritan'', led in the race with the English ''Galatea''. In 1888, Burgess' fishing schooner ''Carrie E. Phillips'' outdistanced four competitors in the fisherman's race held in Boston harbor. His ''Volunteer'' won the ''America's cup'' against the ''Thistle'' in 1887. His other yachts included the ''Mariquita'' and ''Gossoon'', both remarkably swift sloops designed to counter the success of the Clyde-built cutter ''Minerva'' (William Fife, 1888).

In his seven years of work as a yacht designer, Burgess designed 137 vessels, that included 38 cutters, 35 steam yachts, 29 catboats, 17 sloops, 11 fishing-vessels, 3 pilot-boats, 3 working-vessels, and 1 yawl. His son William Starling Burgess would follow him in his profession of yacht design. Examples of pilot boats Burgess designed were the ''Varuna'' and the ''Adams''.

A steam yacht named ''Melissa'' designed by Burgess was purchased by actor William H. Crane and renamed ''The Senator'' after one of Crane's most popular plays. An image of ''The Senator'' passing Minot's Ledge Light features on the label of Cohasset Punch liqueur, which debuted at Crane's residence in the 1890s.

Personal life

Burgess married Caroline Louisa Sullivant on June 2, 1877, in Boston. They had two sons, William Starling Burgess and Charles Paine Burgess. His family had a home in Beverly, Massachusetts near current day Lynch Park.

Burgess died July 12, 1891, of typhoid fever. Caroline died September 16, 1891, in Boston of pneumonia. They are both buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery lot #1167 Geranium Path.

Burgess was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1994.

Notes

Sources

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*''Boston's North Shore'' by Joseph E.Garland. Published 1978.
Benjamin Franklin Burgess Obituary
NEHGS Register Volume 65 xlviii, 1911.


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External links

* The location of the early Burgess summer cottage is no

in Beverly, Massachusetts. Latter it was owned by the Evans Family who hosted President William Howard Tafts 1910 summer "Whitehouse".
* A map of Beverly Cove from the 1872 Atlas of Essex Count
plate 95
showing the Burgess cottage off Ober Street on Woodbury Point.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Edward
1848 births
1891 deaths
America's Cup yacht designers
Harvard University alumni
American yacht designers
People from Sandwich, Massachusetts
Deaths from typhoid fever in the United States