British archaeologist whose excavations (1895–96) in western Greece, at Pílos (ancient Pylos, on the Coryphasium promontory) and the nearby island of Sfaktiría (Sphacteria), were important in verifying Thucydides' historical accuracy.

As professor of Greek at University College, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales (1898–1908), Burrows conducted further Greek excavations that helped to systematize the archaeology of the ancient district of Boeotia. His Discoveries in Crete (1907) was the first general account of Sir Arthur Evans' discovery of Minoan civilization at Knossos, Crete. He taught at the University of Manchester (1908–13) and was principal of King's College, London, from 1913 to 1920, the period when he devoted much time to modern Greek affairs. His plan for bringing Greece into World War I was adopted by the British Cabinet in 1915. A confidant and adviser to the Greek statesman Eleuthérios Venizélos, he was chosen to be the Greek provisional government's semiofficial representative in London (1916).