more transcription queries!

[samgibbons56]

Hi all,
Been pc-less for some time but now back and have a lot of catching up to do!
I am in the process of transcribing the prt's for Thorganby,ERY and have the following question.
I have been coming across these dates and wonder if I am reading them right:
** Xbr ****
** 9br ****
** 8br ****
Am I right in reading them as
** December ****
** November ****
** October ****
?????
Look forward to hearing from you.
Sam
France|wave|

[arthurk]

Yes, you're correct. When the year was defined as starting in March, the months from September to December were the 7th to 10th in the year. In fact the first part of their names is the Latin for 7, 8, 9 and 10 - hence the abbreviations that you've found (X being Roman numeral 10).

Arthur

[Mike Fry]

As well as confirming Arthur's information, I think I'd want to add the following comment: take this numbering of the months in conjunction with the pre-1752 calendar.

Pre- 1752 and the change over to our modern Gregorian calendar, the legal and ecclesiastical years began on Lady Day, March 25th. Some old-timers might recollect that until fairly recently, there was some incentive from the tax man to get married as close to April 6th as was feasible, in order to gain the benefit of a full years' married mans' allowance. This date is by no means arbitrary since it corresponded to the end of the tax year. In 1752, 11 days were cut from the lunar-based Julian calendar in order to bring it into line with the solar-based Gregorian calendar. For the tax man, April 6th was equivalent to March 25th after it had been adjusted.

Anyway, I digress! Getting back to pre-1752 and the numbering of months. Counting forward from March as month 1, you discover that September, October, November and December suddenly become numbered according to their Latin roots.

[Peter Goodey]

The Latin names of the months and hence the abbreviations mentioned hark back to a very much earlier Roman calendar before January and February were even invented.

[samgibbons56]

Hi Arthur, Mike and Peter,
Thanks for all your input, glad to know I was on the right track, didn't want to take it as a given just in case.
Regards
Sam

[LittleSpark]

Hi Sam,
Welcome back! Nice to see you on the Forum again.
Thanks for all the help you gave me earlier this year when I joined, no doubt you will help many others out in the coming months.
Nice to see ya
Sheila

[Gododdin]

The Latin names of the months and hence the abbreviations mentioned hark back to a very much earlier Roman calendar before January and February were even invented.

I thought it was July (Julius) and August (Augustus) that were the late inventions.
Godo