John Burgess Surman was born in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England on 16 April 1884 and was articled to Cooper Whitwell (?-1915) and Arthur William Whitwell (1871-1950) of C. Whitwell & Son in 1901, and remained with them as an assistant until 1906. He also attended Birmingham School of Art. In 1908 he qualified as an architect and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) the following year. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1930.
Surman commenced independent practice as an architect in Birmingham in 1910. For a number of years he was in partnership with William Thomas Benslyn (1885-1947) as Surman & Benslyn. The practice had offices at 17, Easy Row, Birmingham, and 5, Lancaster Place, Strand, London in 1927. A design for a house by them was submitted in The "Daily Mail" Ideal Houses Competition for Architects in 1927. Benslyn died in Birmingham on 25 November 1947
Surman was later in partnership with Geoffrey Scott Kelly and John Lesley Surman. Between 1912 and 1926 he taught at Birmingham School of Architecture and was Deputy Director of the School from 1926 to 1932. From 1930 to 1932 he was President of the Birmingham and Five Counties Architectural Association.
His address was given as 26 Paradise Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire in 1909; 10 Yew Tree Road, Edgbaston, Warwickshire in 1909 and 1914; 122 Colmore Row, Birmingham, Warwickshire in 1914 and 1923; 17, Easy Bow, Birmingham, Warwickshire in 1914 and 1930; 19 Cannon Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire in 1935 and 1939. He died in Luddington, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire on 6 February 1958.
A biographical file on John Burgess Surman is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, RIBA Library, London
Restoration of exterior of St. Asaph Church, Birmingham; colour decorations to interior of ditto; domestic work In and around Birmingham and in Cornwall. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1914]
Notable among his later works was the King George V Public House in Bristol Road South, Longbridge (1935)
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 194, 14 February 1958, p. 314
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 65, August 1957, p. 357
Who’s Who in Architecture 1914. London: Technical Journals Ltd., 1914