Dates given on documents prior to 1753, and dates referring to events before that time can be a little confusing. This is because changes were made in the calendar. We switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar in 1753,( 171 years after the change was ordered by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582!) and eleven days were jumped or lost in order to catch up with "real" time.( In much the same way as we have a leap year every four years!) Sometimes the new calendar is referred to as the Georgian calendar in England, as it came into being during the reign of George II.
On 3rd September 1752, 11 days were "lost" and it became September 14th. To compensate for this "loss", the start of the financial year was moved from March 25th ( which at that time was also New Years Day ) to April 6th, where it has remained until the present day, although it seems likely this will change in the near future with the Chancellor's alteration of Budget Day. At the same time it was decided to change New Year's Day to January 1st, so that the year 1752 only lasted just over 8 months!! ( From March 25th - December 31st, minus 11 days in September.) The new Gregorian calendar coming into effect on 1st January. According to the old calendar it would still have been 1752, ( the year running from the 25th March till 24th March) but with the new system it became January 1st 1753.
It is therefore technically correct to refer to documents dated between January 1st and March 25th prior to 1753 as bridging two years, e.g.. February 20th 1651/52. Where possible in the text of the Leverstock Green Chronicle I have adhered to this rule.
However, as many of my sources are secondary, I cannot always be sure which two years I should quote. I have therefore just used the date given in the source I have used, unless I can be sure to when it referred. This may therefore mean that some entries are not strictly chronological, being a year out either way. For any errors thus caused I apologise, and would hope it doesn't lead to too much confusion. I shall order the chronological listings by the Julian Calendar prior to 1753, and by the Georgian calendar after that date. [S93]
