Harold Arthur Burke was born in 1852 and educated at Cheltenham.
He was an artist, training at the University of Liege and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He exhibited at the Royal Academy under Gerome and E. Vernet Lecomte.
He was vice president of the Royal Society of British Painters between 1915 and 1919 and close friends with Sir James Shannon RA, who painted both Burke’s wife Beatrice and brother Charles.
Initiated into Tuscan Lodge No 14, the famous red apron Lodge that even today only accepts initiates, he also joined the Savage Club Lodge No 2190, whose “Membership… has never been restricted to members of the Club, though members tend to be connected professionally with Literature, Art, Drama, Music, Science or Law, following Club tradition“. He was nominated and served as a Grand Steward by Tuscan in 1896.
He was a Skinner, becoming Master of the Company and a member of the Arts Club.
