Charles Desborough 'Don' Burnell, DSO, OBE (13 January 1876 – 3 October 1969) was a British rower who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

In 1908, he was a crew member of the Leander eight, which won the gold medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

[2] During World War I. Burnell served as a Lt Colonel in the London Rifle Brigade and won a DSO in 1918.

[3] They had four children and their son Richard Burnell was also an Olympic rower, winning a gold medal in 1948 in the double sculls.

Burnell died at Blewbury, Oxfordshire, at the age of 93 on 3 October 1969.