Well Burgesses were merchants or craftsmen who owned property in burghs and were allowed to trade in burghs free of charge. They could obtain these rights by inheritance, by marriage, by purchase, or by the gift of a burgh. Burghs were essentially urban settlements which enjoyed trading privileges from medieval times until 1832, and which regulated their own affairs to a greater or lesser extent until the abolition of Scottish burghs in 1975. By 1707 three types of burgh existed: royal burghs, burghs of regality and burghs of barony.
One of the great things about being a predominantly New South Wales Australia family is that because it is the oldest state of Australia it also has pretty good records of Births, Deaths and Marriages
However in following my tree I have discovered that poor or no documentation - or even deliberately false information makes it hard to work out who or what went on.
Curently I'm stuck with William Burgess - and so it seems are others - It's possible that he is actually William Garnet(t) and maybe he was a bigamist - see History for more details.
Most of the public databases do not list individuals that are likely to be alive so it isn't possible to research most Births after 1910, Deaths after 1980 and marriages after 1960
So if you think you know someone who should be in the tree or you yourself think you should be in the tree please contact me.
The Family Tree Links