 After the death of his mother, Burgess was raised by his maternal aunt, Ann Bromley, in Crumpsall with her two daughters.During this time, Burgess's father worked as a bookkeeper for a beef market by day, and in the evening played piano at a public house in Miles Platting.After his father married the landlady of this pub, Margaret Dwyer, in 1922, Burgess was raised by his father and stepmother.