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Genealogy Tips

All dates are not the same so it is important that you understand the old dating practices in order to date documents correctly.

Given that it was only in 1752 that England adopted the 'modern' Gregorian calendar, it is vital to get the background on dates and learn how to determine when an event actually happened.

Until 1752, England used the Julian calendar that had been introduced in Rome in 46 BC. Each year officially ran from Lady Day (25 March) to 24 March. By 1751, the Julian calendar, which was based on a nominal 'year' of 365 days plus an extra day every four years, was 11 days out of step with the Gregorian calendar. This error had first been recognised early in the sixteenth century, but it wasn't until 1582 that Pope Gregory XIII undertook to correct it. He decreed in a Papal Bull that the day following 4 October 1582 would be 15 October (hence, Gregorian calendar). To avoid the problem recurring, the rule for leap years was also changed such that centenary years that were not divisible by 400 were not leap years. States obedient to the Pope adopted the Gregorian calendar immediately. These were Spain, Portugal, Italy and France. Prussia, the Catholic States of Germany, Holland and Flanders adopted it in 1583; Catholic parts of Switzerland in 1583/84; Poland in 1586; Hungary in 1587; the German and Netherlands Protestant states and Denmark in 1700; and Sweden in 1753.

An Act of Parliament, Lord Chesterfield's Act of 1751, finally replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar in England and Wales, bringing them in line with the rest of Europe. The Act stated that 1 January should be the first day of the year. Thus 1750 had commenced on 25 March 1750 and ended 24 March 1750/51, while 1751 commenced 25 March 1751 and ended on 31 December 1751. The changes were to apply to all the Dominions of the British Crown. Christmas Day remained as 25 December, even though the true anniversary was now 6 January. Banks chose to ignore this shorter year and continued with 365 days, so that the financial year now ended on 5 April (11 days after 25 March), which has continued to the present day.

For the 170 years between the Papal Bull of Gregory XIII and 1752, the two calendars had been used side by side in Western Europe. Thus communication in Europe was prone to ambiguities as far as dates were concerned. Even within England, a year starting on 1 January (known as the historical year) was in general use for almanacs etc., and 1 January had always been celebrated as New Year's Day. The year starting 25 March was called the Civil or Legal Year, although the phrase Old Style was commonly used. These ambiguities are not just a problem for modern researchers; they were a contemporary problem for which contemporary solutions were required. Prior to 1752, dates between 1 January and 24 March each year were expressed, for example, as 1 February 1700/01, written to show that the date was 1 February 1700 in the old style but February 1701 in the new style - an attempt to try and differentiate between the old and new calendar.

Ambiguities continued in Eastern Europe into the twentieth century. Russia and Turkey converted to the Gregorian calendar in 1918, Yugoslavia and Romania in 1919 and Greece in 1923. Thus the October Revolution 'happened' in what was November and Christmas is celebrated in Russia in January, the old calendar being used when determining the dates of religious festivals. Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1872. China started to use the Gregorian calendar for official and business purposes in 1912, but the traditional Chinese lunar calendar continues to be used for most personal matters, such as the celebration of birthdays and festivals, including when to celebrate the Chinese New Year.


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