Have You Googled Yourself Lately?

It’s a solitary vice, usually practised at night, to which few will admit but in which many indulge. I am referring of course to “self-Googling,” the practice of inserting one’s name in the Google search engine to see what comes up. While the activity sounds somewhat narcissistic, the results can be fascinating and occasionally humbling.

Those with a common name like “John Smith” may want to add their middle name to avoid several million hits, and it’s best to put your name in quotations to avoid irrelevant results.

My own findings were rather interesting. The oldest result I could discover was a certain George Burden, Esq. who was an English parliamentary representative for Aylesbury in 1572 during the reign of Elizabeth I (followed by the ubiquitous John Smith, Esq. in 1584).

Another George Burden, a 24-year-old tanner, made his way to Boston in 1635 aboard the vessel Abigail. Presumably the same George Burden is on record as hiring an employee in 1640, purchasing a house and one-half acre of land in Boston from John Crabtree in 1641 and voting on a mill project in 1643. He is noted to have had his will witnessed by Thomas Downes Jr. in 1652. Although he’s probably not directly related to me, this does give me the opportunity to shoot down in flames any snooty Blue Bloods who try to impress me with their early New England heritage.

A no doubt unpopular fellow , the Rev. George Burden, an English clergyman, gave a famous Sermon on Lawful Amusements in 1804, which forbade “all amusement on Sunday, including travelling and p aying visits.”

A general consensus was that this sermon, by implication, eliminated amusements of the reproductive kind as well, which was not very nice considering the average person worked 12-hour days the other six days of the week. The good reverend is considered one of the progenitors of sexual repression during the Victorian era.

George Burden, a “mariner from East Teignmouth,” in England, had the misfortune to have his schooner, the Griffeth, stolen by six French prisoners of war in 1811. Presumably the French prisoners did not appreciate being deprived of their Sunday amusements.

Another George Burden was honoured by being chosen to be the first town clerk of the town of Oakfield, N.Y., in 1842.

On March 21, 1877, yet another very naughty George Burden played hooky from the Cotswold Primary School in England, but apparently his older brother, Thomas, bore the bulk of the punishment for enticing little brother George.

One of my other namesakes had the dubious honour of being lynched in Georgia in 1898 for “attempted rape.” Sadly, he was one of 464 Blacks lynched in that state between 1882 and 1934.

One George Burden I discovered, was indeed related to me, and in fact was my grandfather, who captained ocean-going tern schooners out of Carbonear, Nfld., for many years.

Other sites reveal F/O (flying officer) George Burden, a member of the 439 Tiger Squadron, was killed in a plane crash on May 3, 1945, on a mission against the Hamburg-Elmshom main line in Germany.

He was hit by flak and went down in flames over the village of Esingen.

Another George Burden is a lawyer and city commissioner for Dayton Beach, Fla. He was involved in some interesting debate recently dealing with the allowable percentage of buttocks and breasts which may be exposed on city beaches. If your toilets are stopped up you can call George Burden Plumbing in Quartz Hill, Calif.

This is a pretty good overview of my results to date, though so far it likely just covers a few of my alter egos with which the world is “burdened.” So, if you find yourself with some extra time on your hands, take a moment to peruse what the many other versions of yourself are up to. It could be fun—or scary.

Photo Credit

“New Google Favicon” Tiger Pixel @ Flickr.com. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.

“George Burden” courtesy of George Burden

“Snakes cartoon” www.OutThere-byGeorge.com

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