George Burt

Who was George Burt?

George Burt was a public-works contractor and businessman from Swanage, England, who managed the construction company Mowlem, founded by his uncle John Mowlem.

George's father was Robert, a stone merchant, whose stone and coal business was located in Swanage High Street. His mother was Letitia born Manwell, sister-in-law to John Mowlem who was a struggling workman in London at the time of George's birth. George, as did his uncle before him, worked in the quarries around Swanage. George had five siblings, Elizabeth Letitia, Robert Henry, Charles, Francis Alfred and Susannah Ann, ’Susy’. George grew up in Swanage, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.

In 1835 George Burt moved to London to join Mowlem's business, becoming a partner in 1844, and managing the business after Mowlem's semi-retirement the following year. He married Elizabeth Hudson in 1841, and the couple had five children. Elizabeth Sophia, John Mowlem, Annie, Emma Rust and George.

Upon taking over the Mowlem's company, Burt substantially expanded the firm's operations. Surviving the lean years during the financial crisis of 1866-7, his company became a major public-works contractor and won the contract for Queen Victoria Street in the City of London, followed by Billingsgate Market, and the City of London School in 1880 on the new Victoria Embankment, amongst others.