Like his father Thomas, Burges was a Truro merchant. In the early seventeenth century the family seems primarily to have traded with France and Spain, exchanging Cornish fish for salt, iron and vinegar, but the precise extent of Burges’ activities cannot be determined because the port’s customs records do not distinguish between the older and younger man.
In 1614 Burges was elected to represent Truro at Westminster. Since even six years later he was only a junior member of the borough’s corporation, he presumably relied on his father’s local standing to secure his place. No evidence survives of his participation in the Parliament’s proceedings, but he was entitled as a port town Member to attend legislative committees concerned with such issues as the export of iron ordnance (11 May), the repeal of a fish-packing patent (24 May) and extortions by customs officials (25 May).
Although Burges described himself as a merchant throughout his life, he in fact converted much of his capital into property. Early in 1626 he was assessed for subsidy purposes at £6 in land, the highest such valuation in Truro, reflecting an estate which now included two manors, two half-manors and almost 2,000 acres. A significant proportion of this lay in or near his wife’s home parish of St. Stephen in Brannel, which suggests that the acquisition process dated from her marriage settlement in 1598.