Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Burgess, Thomas (fl.1786)
BURGESS, THOMAS (fl. 1786), painter, received his art education at the St. Martin's Lane academy, and on becoming in 1766 a member of the Incoporated Society of Artists, sent to its exhibitions numerous portraits, conversation-pieces, and studies of various life. In 1778, when living in Kemp’s Row, Chelsea, he was represented for the first time at the Royal Academy by three pictures, ‘William the Conqueror dismounted by his eldest Son,’ ‘Hannibal swearing Enmity to the Romans,’ and ‘Our Saviour.s Appearance to Mary Magdalen.’ He afterwards exhibited a portrait of himself and some landscapes. In 1786 appeared ‘The Death of Athelwold,’ his last contribution to the Academy. As a teacher Burgess attained a high reputation, and for some time kept a drawing school in Maiden Lane which had considerable success.
[Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists (1878), p. 62.]