James John Haldane Burgess was born on 28 May 1862 in Lerwick, the son of John Burgess. He was educated at the Anderson Institute and won the Glasgow Bursary Competition in 1881. He worked as head teacher in Bressay before embarking upon a degree in Divinity at the University of Edinburgh in 1886 . Despite the onset of blindness, he attained an MA degree in 1889 after sitting oral examinations. Due to his disagreement with certain church doctrines, Haldane Burgess rejected a career as a church minister and returned to Lerwick. Following his return to Shetland, Haldane became a freelance writer and private tutor in Mathematics, Classics and modern languages. He knew most European languages and was particularly knowledgeable in Icelandic, Norwegian and Danish. He also learnt Esperanto. Using a typewriter specially designed for use by the blind, he wrote numerous short stories, poems and an unpublished novel. He played the violin and piano. He became a Marxist socialist in the 1890s and described himself as a Socialist Democrat in 1907. In 1897 Haldane composed the lyrics of the song sung at the annual Viking festival Up-Helly-Aa . Haldane Burgess never married. Such was the acclaim of J J Haldane Burgess that he was the first person to be honoured by a public funeral in Lerwick which was held in the Parish Church.
From the guide to the Papers of James John Haldane Burgess, 1862-1927, writer, 1820, (Stirling University Library)
