Thanks Lou & Diana for chiming in with the appropriate info on dates re Maynard's questioning. Maynard, I will add the following to their good answers, since you asked for my input. The change to calling "January 1" the first day of the new (numberical) year began at different times in different countries. In the particular case of the records on the roll of microfilm you are using, you said: > PG Minute Book 1737-1740... > The documents BEGIN in Jan, 1738 (ignoring 1737). That can be accepted > perhaps as simply an error in the "title" of the book. The clerk procedes > with dates and page numbers referring to them from the start as 1738 and > going month by month. > Then, when it comes time for January, 1739 the clerk dutifully starts dating > everything as of January 1738 all over again. It appears to me that the clerk probably actually began recording things in that book later in the year of 1738 than March 25th -- perhaps copying the entries into the just-arrived new book from loose sheets used while awaiting delivery of the new book. That explanation would fit for why the title of the roll says the records start in "1737" -- under the old system of dating, which was then-customary, those entries at the beginning of the book which are dated between Jan 1 & Mar 24th, would have been more properly THEN-called "1737" and you would more properly NOW call them, for example: January 1, 1737/38. When you get to March 25, 1738 you no longer need to give a double date for then thru December 31, 1738. Then when the clerk, in accordance with the then-customary way of doing dates, again lists the next day as "January 1, 1738," you NOW, for clarity, need to put "January 1, 1738/39" and continue putting the double year until you reach March 25th, which the clerk probably calls 1739, though your message didn't go that far into the record to tell us. As Diana's message said, the double-dating of the part of the year from Jan 1 thru March 24th should only be used before 1752. In the case of this1737-1740 Minute Book for Prince George's County, VA, you'll have double dates for each Jan 1 thru Mar 24th. Hope this clarifies any remaining questions. Cheers, Barbara