Burgesses

Burgess is a historical term used to describe a citizen of a borough, particularly one entitled to participate in its local government. The word derives from old terms for a town or fortified place, and in many contexts it denoted a person who had certain rights to trade and to vote in municipal affairs.

In medieval England, a burgess was typically a freeman of a town, often a merchant or tradesman who could take part in the town’s government and hold office within the corporation. Rights and qualifications varied by town and over time, with burgesses sometimes required to hold property or pay certain dues, such as burgage tenure, to retain their status. In Scotland, a burgess was a full civic member of a royal burgh, granted by charter and possessing rights to trade within the town as well as a role in municipal governance.

The term also has a notable colonial association in what is now the United States. The House of Burgesses in Virginia, established in 1619 at Jamestown, was the first elected representative assembly in English America. It brought together representatives from various counties and towns to create laws and govern the colony. The body operated as the colony’s lower house until 1776, after which Virginia’s legislature evolved into the General Assembly, with the modern lower house known as the House of Delegates. The legacy of the term remains in historical references to colonial governance and the broader concept of municipal and civic privilege.