Hello, everyone. You may have noticed that in his e-Mail of last Thursday Robin referred to his puzzlement over our (that is, mostly my) occasional references both in Website material and in communications to ‘old/new’ dates. Others may wonder what this is all about, too, so a few words of explanation. In providing dates for Baptisms, Marriages and Burials I ought always to explain to the recipient that they are according to what is now known as the Gregorian calendar, which was constructed to give a close approximation to the tropical year - the actual time it takes for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. I regret that I may often forget to do so. The Julian calendar, which had been used in Europe since Roman times, was switched over to the Gregorian starting in 1582, at which point the 10 day difference between the actual time of year and traditional time of year on which calendrical events occurred became intolerable. The switchover was bitterly opposed by much of the populace affected by it, who feared it was an attempt by landlords to cheat them out of a week and a half's rent. However, when Pope Gregory XIII decreed that the day after October 4, 1582 would be October 15, 1582, the Catholic countries of France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy complied. Various Catholic German countries (Germany was not then unified), Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland followed suit within a year or two, and Hungary adopted the new arrangement in 1587. Because of the Pope's decree, the reform of the Julian calendar came to be known as the Gregorian calendar. However, the rest of Europe did not follow suit for more than a century. The Protestant German countries adopted the Gregorian reform in 1700. By this time, the calendar trailed the seasons by 11 days. England (and the American colonies) finally followed suit in 1752, and Wednesday, 2 September, 1752 was immediately followed by Thursday, 14 September, 1752. This traumatic change resulted, although one suspects the tales are apocryphal, in widespread riots and the populace demanding "Give us the eleven days back!" Rather more importantly, and rather more to the point that I said I was going to explain, until 1752 the new year in England began on 26 March, but with the calendar change the government of the day decided also to adopt the widespread practice of starting a new year on 1 January (except, of course, for financial purposes!). Thus any dates in parish records for years before 1752 that fell in January, February or March would have been allocated by the author of the record to the year before that into which they would fall by today’s standards. Thus 14 February 1748 as written in a register would be 14 February 1749 according to today’s reckoning. I hope that clears the matter up? Graham _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today! http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

Dear Graham Thanks for the fascinating info. Likewise Robert in another posting - also earlier today. Best wishes from sunny Southampton Robin