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From: "Fred Pepper" <>
Subject: Re: JULIAN/GREGORIAN CALENDARS
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 19:42:43 +1000


Dear Renee ,I am ever so pleased I was born the 4th of July and what
happened to the poor old Pommies who were born during the missing 11 days?
That is a good article Renee, thank you. I knew about it but not all the
details. I struck the Day of our Lady when I started off in Genealogy and
thought I was going bonkers. Bye. fred
-----Original Message-----
From: Renee Redshaw <>
To: <>
Date: Thursday, 07 October, 1999 6:11 pm
Subject: Fw: JULIAN/GREGORIAN CALENDARS


>Dear Listers,
>
>I hope that the following may help those (like myself in the early days
>of ancestor hunting) who know very little about the subject calendars.
>This is my personal version of all that I have read on the subject.
>
> JULIAN/GREGORIAN CALENDARS - A "potted" history.
>
> In 1752 Great Britain adopted what was termed the "New Style".
> The most distinct memory, however, appears to be of people in London
> following
> Ministers in the street crying "give us back our 11 days"! - the majority
> of the
> population believed their lives had been shortened by 11 days by Act of
> Parliament, which did three things:-
> The year computed more in accordance with accuracy, the error of 11 days
> occurring during the centuries rectified, and that the year should
> officially
> begin on the 1st of January.
> This made our almanacks agree with every other country in the Christian
> world
> except Sweden and Russia who, like England, had resisted reform for two
> centuries, but they very soon fell into agreement.
>
> The period called the year was set down as 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes
> and 57 seconds, which astronomers reduced to 45-1/2. Very early the
> astronomical year was taken as 365-1/4 days. The civil year, which people
> counted , was taken as 365 days with an extra day once in 4 years.
> Julius Caesar reformed the Roman Calendar and adopted this computation
> of 365-1/4 days called the Julian Calendar. An error occured after his
> death
> giving every THIRD year 366 days, but was corrected in AD.7 and prevailed
> until Pope Gregory revised it in 1582. It was found by this time that the
> Julian Year did not "march" with the seasons, and that June 21st ceased
> to be the longest day. Pope Gregory XIII deducted 10 days from the
> Calendar,
> ordering the day after October 4th should be October 15th.
> Spain, Portugal, part of Italy and later in the year, France, Holland and
> other
> places immediately agreed, but the Protestants resisted for about 20
>years
> because of it's Roman origin. Protestant England and Sweden refused to
> alter, and Russia most likely for the same reason.
>
> The Gregorian Style provided that the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not
> leap years, but it would occur in the year 2000 with 366 days, thus aiming
> at permanent accuracy. The Calendar would be kept in harmony with the
> seasons for ever if the number of the level century year, not equally
> divisible by four was not a leap year.
>
> With England adhering to the old style and most of Europe to the new,
> great inconvenience was caused to merchants and shipping, and by the 18th
> century there was a difference of eleven days. In 1751 the Government
> decided on reform and an Act of Parliament was introduced to regulate the
> commencement of the year, and also provided that the year should commence
> on the 1st of January in September 1752 with 11 days omitted from the
> calendar, and that leap years be in accordance with the Gregorian style.
>
> With the passing of the Act, concern was felt among many people that
> they had been robbed of 11 days. Provision was made regarding payment
> of rents and annuities that no period should be shortened. Farmers as
>well
> as the rent year was made to terminate 11 days later than shown on the
> calendar (one could not expect corn to ripen 11 days early because of the
> alteration!). With the mutilated calendar of 1752 Michaelmas or Quarter
> Day was the 29th day after the end of August - October 10th, and was the
> origin of the old Michaelmas Day. In 1800 and 1900 (not leap years),
> Michaelmas Day was advanced by one day - October 11th to October 12th.
>
> From approx. the 6th century Christians regarded Christmas as the start
> of the year, but with the changes occurring there was disagreement.
> Circumcision (January 1st), Lady Day (March 28th), Easter and Christmas
> have all been taken as the beginning of the year, and was not until
> Gregory's
> reform of the calendar in 1582 that January 1st was at all general.
>
> England generally regarded December 25th as the beginning of the year
> until the 12th Century, and the church about that time began to adopt
> March 25th. In time this ecclestiastical became the legal and civil year,
> but the population used January 1st for ordinary purposes. This caused
> great confusion as each date from January 1st to March 24th would be
> ascribed by difference people to different years, and no-one seeing the
> date could be sure which year was meant. Forgetting the fact that the
> year legally commenced on March 25th accounts for people being puzzled
> by straight forward records and inscriptions, and it takes some thought
> to appreciate the implications in, say, the dates of two successive days
> as follows:-
> Wednesday 24th March 1730 and
> Thursday 25th March 1731
> In genealogy up to the change in calendar made by Act of Parliament
> in 1752 Parish Records were kept according to the ecclesiastical legal
> and civil year - ie - March 25th to March 24th, which must be remembered
> when recording our Baptisms, Marriages and Burials. One could find
> such puzzling entries as -
> A baptism registered October 9th 1730, and the same infant's burial
> 1st March 1730 - so that it appears the child died before it was born! -
> until one works it out. Once understood it is easily explained.
>
>Regards,
>Renee, Melbourne
>
>
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