John Burn

John Burn was educated at Harrow and First Trinity College, Cambridge. Like his father, he qualified as a doctor and, after finishing his education at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, he worked there as a house surgeon. During World War I, “Dr. Jack”, as he was affectionately known, served with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), and after the war went into practice with his father in Richmond, Surrey.

At Cambridge, Burn was a member of the First Trinity Rowing Club and was a rowing Blue in 1907 and 1908 when he was on the winning Cambridge eight on each occasion. In the first of the two years, he was in the Fist Trinity four that got beat in the final of Visitors’ Challenge Cup at Henley by Magdalen College, Oxford, and in 1908 he won an Olympic bronze medal in the eights with the Cambridge University crew. One of Burn’s finest moments was in winning the 1910 Silver Goblets with fellow Leander member Gordon Thomson.

Burn was a member of the committee of the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA) and continued rowing well beyond the age of 40. In 1929, at the age of 45, he won the senior pairs at the Twickenham Rowing Club Regatta with another ex-Cambridge Blue, K. N. Craig. Burn was still rowing in seniors’ events in 1933.