Magnus Burns was a merchant in Lerwick and a Lerwick Town Councillor between 1830 and 1832. He was elected at a by-election on 21 April 1830 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alexander Irvine, and was not returned at the election of 6 September 1832. Pressed into the Royal Navy in 1793, he lost an arm at Lord Howe's victory of 1 June 1794 before settling in Lerwick as a merchant and property owner; Burns Lane is named after the houses he built there. He was the father of Lerwick Town Councillor David Nisbet Burns.