Burnett , John , 1842-1914 , trade union leader and civil servant

John Burnett was born in Alnwick, Northumberland, in 1842. He was orphaned at the age of twelve, he went to live with an uncle on Tyneside, where he became an engineering apprentice and attended evening classes. He was prominent in the Newcastle Mechanics' Institute. He became a trade union leader, eventually becoming general secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1875. He became labour correspondent at the Board of Trade in 1886, and continued to work for the Board until his retirement in 1906.