Take me to . . . Bridlington?

Nobody knows how Burlington got its name, because the town lost most of its records in a series of fires. It’s easy to assume “some place in England,” but England doesn’t have a Burlington. The closest match is Bridlington, in Yorkshire.

 

Is this town the namesake of Burlington, Massachusetts? That’s really a two-part question.

1. Was Bridlington known as “Burlington” at the time?
2. If so, did Burlington, MA snatch the name?

Burlington Retro reached across the Atlantic and chatted with historians in the century-old Bridlington Augustinian Society.

Part 1 is a yes, according to Garry Sunley. He cited a book called “Bridlington — An Introduction to Its History and Buildings,” by British historians David and Susan Neave, which says the ruling Boyle family popularized the nickname “Burlington” in the mid-1600s. The nickname reigned for almost 200 years, until the railroad put a damper on things in 1848 by naming the local stop after the proper name, Bridlington. That stifled the nickname around the area, but not in Bridlington itself. Sunley said Bridlington residents still call the place Burlington, probably because it rolls more easily off the tongue. There’s even a Burlington school in Bridlington.

Part 2 is probably a yes also, according to Rick Hudson: If you look around the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario you will see Newcastle, Whitby, Scarborough, Burlington, and Grimsby in the same order as these local ports appear down our east coast. It suggests the use of the name “Burlington” was widespread in the past and certainly influenced the naming of some of these settlements across the Atlantic.

Well, if Burlington, MA had a direct connection to Bridlington, it didn’t happen early. The town began as the “Shawshin” section of Woburn, and nobody from Woburn hailed from Bridlington. That includes Francis Wyman, the first Woburnite to build a home in Shawshin. No connection.

Burlington Retro researched the origin of every Burlington in the world. Only three of them — New Jersey, Ontario and Connecticut — have a legitimate connection to Bridlington. Does Burlington, MA belong in that group, or was it named after another Burlington on this side of the pond? You decide. Here’s every Burlington in order of when it was named:

1677 Burlington, New Jersey — Named after Bridlington SOURCE

1763 Burlington, Vermont — Probably the Burling family from New York, who owned lots of land in what became Vermont SOURCE

1792 Burlington, New York — Named after Burlington, New Jersey because early investors came from there SOURCE

1792 Burlington, Ontario — Bridlington SOURCE

1799 Burlington, Massachusetts — Unknown

1801 Burlington, Pennsylvania — First settlers came from Burlington, Vermont SOURCE

1806 Burlington, Connecticut — Homage to Richard Boyle of Bridlington SOURCE

1816 Burlington, Kentucky — Nobody knows SOURCE

1817 Burlington, Ohio — Named after Burlington, Vermont SOURCE

1827 Burlington, West Virginia — Maybe Bridlington, or maybe a mill operator named Mr. Burl SOURCE

1832 Burlington, Indiana — An indigenous Wyandot chief named Burlington (but where did he get that name?) SOURCE

1832 Burlington, Maine — Tiny town of under 400 people. Nobody knows the origin SOURCE

1833 Burlington, Michigan — Named after a ship that fought in the Great Lakes during the War of 1812 (flimsy theory) SOURCE

1834 Burlington, Iowa — Either Burlington, Vermont SOURCE or Burlington, Iowa SOURCE

1839 Burlington, Wisconsin — Burlington, Vermont SOURCE

1851 Burlington, Illinois — First settlers came from Burlington, Vermont SOURCE

1853 Burlington, Oregon (now a ghost town) — Named after Burlington, Iowa SOURCE

1857 Burlington, Kansas — Named after Burlington Town Company, whose founder came from Burlington, Vermont SOURCE

1867 Burlington, Nova Scotia — Name changed from Lower Kennetcook for reasons unknown SOURCE

1884 Burlington, North Dakota — Named after Burlington, Iowa by the assistant postmaster general because he once edited a newspaper there SOURCE

1887 Burlington, Colorado — Named after Burlington, Iowa SOURCE

1887 Burlington, North Carolina — In February 1887, a town committee held a naming contest, and one person submitted the name “Burlington” after seeing it on a passing train. The committee liked it. SOURCE

1889 Burlington, Texas — Postmaster changed the town name from Waterford to Burlington because of mail confusion between another town named Waterford. But why Burlington? Nobody knows. SOURCE

1895 Burlington, Wyoming — The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad SOURCE — And the railroad is named for Burlington, Iowa LINK

1896 Burlington, Washington — First settlers came from Burlington, Vermont SOURCE

1907 Burlington, Oklahoma — Named after Burlington, Iowa (maybe) SOURCE

1914 Burlington, Newfoundland — The local post office didn’t like the original name, Northwest Arm, because it sounded too much like other locations. So the post office changed it to Burlington. Why? Nobody knows because the earliest records went up in flames in 1933. SOURCE

If, after a preponderance of the circumstantial evidence, we, the jury, find that Burlington, MA is indeed named after Bridlington, directly or indirectly, we have this guy to thank. After all, he popularized the nickname Burlington.

Honorable mention: There’s a Burlington Arcade shopping mall in London, and a British drinking song called Burlington Bertie, performed by Julie Andrews in the 1968 film “Star!” Do these have any nominal connection to Burlington, MA? You’d need an advanced degree in obscure tedium to tackle that question. Just enjoy the performance.