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Archiver > DEVON > 1999-06 > 0929532039


From: "Michael Parsley" <>
Subject: Re: Parish register dates
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 12:20:39 +0100


Hello Brian - funnily enough I was just reading the Global Gazette when your
query came up - here is the relevant section:

1752: Before 1752 the year began on March 25th (Lady Day) in parish
registers (the Julian calendar). If you are using a parish register created
before 1752 you will see that the year does not change until after March
25th. For example, a child could be born in December and baptised in January
all in the same year - 1670. By an Act of Parliament known as Lord
Chesterfield's Act (1751/52) the Julian calendar was abandoned in favour of
the modern Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is the same calendar
used to this day - the year begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st.
The Act stated that the year 1752 would begin on January 1st. This meant
that the year 1751 was actually only nine months long! But the Act created
other problems also. For the year 1752 when the new calendar began, the 2nd
of September would be followed by the 14th of September. This elimination of
11 days was meant to adjust the calendar for all time but completely
confused people. In simple terms there is no record of days for September
3rd to September 13th in the year 1752.

What this calendar change means to researchers is very important. If you
have a parish register entry in February of 1668, the actual year that
existed when the event was recorded was 1668 (referred to as "Old Style")
but by today's Gregorian calendar it was actually 1669 ("New Style"). When
recording the date for genealogical purposes, researchers should simply
write February 1668/69. It is important to be consistent and to work from
solid, recognized recording practices. Whenever you come across any date
between January 1st and March 25th for ANY year before 1752 - stop and
remember to record the event with both the new style and old style years.
For those people researching near the Scottish border, it is important to
note that Scotland adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1600! England lagged
behind Scotland when it came to adopting the Gregorian calendar (the
calendar in use today).

Here is the URL:
The newest issue of The Global Gazette is online, filled with new articles
and ready for readers. Off special interest this week is a terrific article
in the English & Welsh Roots column on Researching English Parish Records.
Check it out at http://globalgenealogy.com/gazette.htm

Hope that helps.
Susan Alison
Researching: ALISON, BEARE
-----Original Message-----
From: John Lerwill <>
To: <>
Date: 16 June 1999 11:51
Subject: Re: Parish register dates

>At 21:02 16/6/99 +1200, "Brian Frankpitt" <>
wrote:
>>I have been told that the date sequence in parish registers is as follows
>>Dec1610, Jan1610, Feb1610 Mar1610, Apr1611. Is this correct and if so
over
>>what period did the practice occur. Hope some kind person can provide me
>>with an answer. Brian (Nelson NZ)
>>
>
>Hello Brian......Up until 1752, which is when the current calendar started
>in the U.K. I believe that (somebody prod me if I'm wrong) the rest of
>Europe preceded the U.K. by some hundreds of years and therefore, was out
>of step ---- Europe was out of step, of course, not the U.K. :-))
>
>
>John Lerwill, London, England ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>LERWILL (all) APLIN (SOM, WAR) SKIDMORE (WOR) WHYBORN (SCO, WAR)
> For Devon, Birmingham and other History please see my homepage at
> http://millennium.fortunecity.com/falmouth/566/home.htm
>
>

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