Mr Arthur Victor Edwards Burrage was born in Warnham, Billingshurst, Sussex, England on 4 August 1891, later being baptised on 27 September the same year.

He was the son of Alfred Burrage (1858-1940), a gamekeeper, and Elizabeth Ann Richardson (1860-1941), Horsham natives who had married in 1880 who went on to have ten children.

Burrage's siblings were: Elizabeth Laura (1880-1890), Alfred Henry Richardson (1883-1966), Ethel May (1885-1925, later Mrs Walter Wickett), Sydney Albert  (b. 1887), Kathleen Marion (1889-1986, later Mrs Charles F. Lock), Emily Frances (1894-1974, later Mrs Leonard G. Dodd), Percy George (1896-1977), Nelly Gladys (1898-1984, later Mrs George E. Henton) and Winifred Lottie (1901-1972, later Mrs Robert S. Higgins).

Percy's parents originally settled in Claygate, Surrey where they began their family, moving to Warnham, Billingshurst not long before Arthur's birth. By the time of the 1901 census the family are living at Ivy Cottage, Church Hill, South Street, Billingshurt and are still at this address for the 1911 census where Arthur is listed as an unmarried agricultural engineer.

When he signed-on to the Titanic on 4 April 1912 Burrage gave his address as 9 Emsworth Road, Southampton. His previous ship had been the Oceanic and as a plate steward he received monthly wages of £3, 15s.

Burrage survived the sinking, probably escaping in lifeboat 13. He was not called to provide evidence to either the American or British Inquiries into the disaster.

Arthur continued to work at sea and served in the Merchant Fleet during the First World War; he was also in the Royal Naval Reserve but it is not clear if he ever saw any active service. He would later serve at sea aboard Majestic, Arabic, Cedric and Homeric, among other ships. Also during the War he spent time living in Essex and worked for a time as a mechanic; on 3 September 1918 he was initiated into the St David's Lodge of Masons. 

He was married in Croydon in 1923 to Lillian Florence Foot (b. 1 December 1885 in Hampshire) and the couple, who remained childless, later ran a hotel in Bromyard, Herefordshire, the Hop Pole, which is still in existence today. They later retired to Poole, Dorset and lived at Wimborne Road in later years. 

Arthur was made a widower on 4 February 1951. He himself passed away only a few months later on 6 December 1951 aged 60, leaving an estate worth £10, 638, 9s, 6d.

Arthur was cremated on the 10th December 1951 at Bournemouth Crematorium, England, the whereabouts of his remains are unknown.