Writing dates from the Gregorian calender

[Wilkes_ml]

I'm working on ancestors who lived during the late 1600s and early 1700s, where the calender switches from the Julian to Gregorian calender in September 1752. (and vice versa

I'm noticing that some indexes are changing the year during the Julian period as if it was the Gregorian calender!

i.e. if the real year was 1st January 1744 Gregorian Calender, the Index would have it as 1st January 1745

So when recording the dates from the parish records, I have always stuck to the date that it was for them, in their time (even if it seems confusing for us) but should we convert the date to Julian or does it really not matter?

Is there any set guidelines for writing up the dates during this period, for publishing?

It is even more complicated as at some point in the 1600s the new year does appear to Start on January 1st and not March 25th, and in some registers there is evidence of dual dating.

[Kerrywood]

In England up to 1752, the new year began on 25 March (Lady Day). From 1753 onwards, it began on 1 January. Church registers and genealogical indexes are inconsistent in how they handle this, which can lead to confusion.


Is there any set guidelines for writing up the dates during this period, for publishing?

A standard recommended practice for English records up to 1752 is to use double years for dates between 1 January and 24 March inclusive ...

31 December 1744
1 January 1744/45
24 March 1744/45
25 March 1745

Note that other European countries changed over to the Gregorian Calendar at different periods. For a detailed explanation, see this link

www.
nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/datingdocuments/juliangregorian.aspx

[Wilkes_ml]

Thanks for the link.

Indeed, there is a lot of inconsistency from one register to another. The one I am going through at the moment starts the year on January the first in the 1730s. It certainly gets confusing when a child appears to die before it has even been born!