Joseph Burtt was an archivist and an Assistant Keeper of the Public Records. He began working in the public service in 1832 at the Chapter House

Chapter house

A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....

 in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

 under Sir Francis Palgrave, and in 1840 became a member of staff at the Public Record Office

Public Record Office

The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...

. Having been appointed an Assistant Keeper of the Records of the Second Class in 1851, Burtt was appointed a first-class status in 1859, and held this position until his death. Burtt oversaw the moving of the Public Records from the Chapter House

Chapter house

A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....

 to a newly designated repository in Fetter Lane, and organised their cataloguing.

Burtt was appointed to oversee the transport and safety of the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 on its journeys to Southampton between 1861 and 1864 to be photozincographed

Photozincography

Photozincography, sometimes referred to as Heliozincography but essentially the same process, known commercially as zinco, is the photographic process developed by Sir Henry James FRS in the mid-nineteenth century....

 by Colonel Sir Henry James

Henry James (Ordnance Survey)

Major General Sir Henry James FRS MRIA RE was the director-general of the Ordnance Survey, the British Government mapping agency, from 1854 to 1875. Sir Henry was described by the agency itself as "perhaps Ordnance Survey's most eccentric and egotistical Director General"...

 at the offices of the Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

, and assisted James in some aspects of the task.

Later in life Burtt became a notable figure in British archaeology, becoming secretary of the Royal Archaeological Institute

Royal Archaeological Institute

The Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is a learned society, established in 1844, primarily devoted to the publication of the Archaeological Journal, a production of archaeological news that has been in print since 1844....

 in 1862, also contributing to amongst others the Gentleman’s Magazine and The Athenaeum

Athenaeum (magazine)

The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....

.
Burtt died as a result of illness at his home in Tulse Hill, London on 17 December 1876.