Charles H. Harrison Burleigh was born in Brighton in 1869, the third and only son of four children. He studied at Brighton School of Art and also in Paris, under Jacques-Emile Blanche; this appears to be the only period of his life when he lived elsewhere than in Brighton or Hove.
He is known for his depictions of interiors, including those in public places, such as two more belonging to Brighton Museums & Art Galleries, which show the Music Room of Brighton Pavilion and the Dome in use as military hospitals during the First World War. He was also a landscapist and a painter of urban scenes and still lifes. His paintings sometimes featured his family, including his wife, the artist Averil Burleigh and his daughter, Veronica who was also an artist.
Burleigh was elected to the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (RI). He exhibited both at the exhibitions of these institutions, and at the Royal Academy and the Fine Art Society. His wife, Averil, also exhibited at the RA and the ROI, under the name of, as did his daughter, Veronica (b.1909).
Works in public collections include: Brighton Front, c.1920, Portrait of an organist, 1921, The Music Room of the Royal Pavilion, c.1923-4, Brighton Arts Club, c.1930, Lieut. Col. S. Moens, Portrait of an old man (all Brighton Museums & Art Galleries); plus works in The Slade & UCL, London, and in other provincial art galleries.
