Born in Faringdon, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), Burrell emigrated to Canada as a young man, where he eventually became a fruit grower on a farm about two miles east of Grand Forks, British Columbia.

He first ran unsuccessfully for the House of Commons of Canada as the Conservative candidate in the 1904 federal election for the constituency of Yale—Cariboo.

[citation needed] A fire damaged the Parliament Buildings in 1917, and Burrell was badly injured in it.

After leaving politics, he remained in Ottawa and kept the position of Parliamentary Librarian until his death in 1938.

[citation needed] Burrell Creek near Grand Forks, British Columbia, is named in his honour.