Herculaneum Burke was a wizard and a member of the sinister Burke family, known for their association with the Dark Arts. He is believed to be one of the founders of Borgin and Burkes, the infamous Knockturn Alley shop specializing in dangerous and dark magical artifacts. Through his marriage to Belvina Black, he became an ancestor of the House of Black, linking two prominent pure-blood families with dark reputations.
Little is known about the life of Herculaneum Burke, as he is not directly mentioned in the primary narrative of the novels. His existence is confirmed through his inclusion on the Black Family Tapestry. He married Belvina Black (1886-1962), and together they had two sons and one daughter, whose names are not recorded. It is widely understood that Herculaneum, along with his relative Caractacus Burke, founded and operated the shop Borgin and Burkes. This establishment became notorious for trafficking in objects of dark and questionable magic. The shop played a pivotal role in the history of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes; it was Caractacus Burke who purchased Salazar Slytherin's Locket from a destitute Merope Gaunt for a mere ten Galleons and later employed a young Tom Riddle after he graduated from Hogwarts. Given the timeline of his wife's life, Herculaneum would have been active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, establishing the shop's dark reputation long before Voldemort's rise to power.
There is no canonical description of Herculaneum Burke's physical appearance. Based on his profession as a dealer in Dark Arts artifacts and the sinister nature of his family's business, it can be inferred that he was likely a shrewd, cunning, and morally ambiguous individual. He would have possessed a deep interest in profit and rare, powerful magical objects, regardless of the danger they posed.
While no specific magical feats performed by Herculaneum Burke are recorded, his role as a proprietor of Borgin and Burkes implies a profound and specialized knowledge of the Dark Arts. His skills would have included: