 Burton studied at Edinburgh Collegiate School, but instead of going on to university, from 1873 he signed up for a five-year apprenticeship with the innovative hydraulic and mechanical engineers Brown Brothers & Co. Ltd at the Rosebank Ironworks in Edinburgh.Rising to become chief draftsman, he left the firm in 1879 to enter partnership with his uncle Cosmo Innes in London designing water systems.In 1881 he became Resident Engineer to the London Sanitary Protection Association.