Hi Rich and thanks for the response. Yes, it's clear that many people in England and the colonies were aware that their neighbors long since had accepted 01 January as the first day of the year in all civil and legal matters. You see it in books of minutes and vitals: new headings in the date column twice a year 1734 -- 1734/35 -- 1735 -- 1735/36. Letters and documents written 01 Jan through 24 Mar had to be dated either OS (Old Style), NS (New Style) or with the slashed double date if they were to be unambiguous.
My point is that most countries were starting the year on 01 Jan long before those same countries made the decision to use the Gregorian calendar, and that it is more or less coincidental that England did both these things in the same year (the first item in January, the second in September). We need to remember that OS and NS have to do ONLY with when New Year's Day was. They are not symbols for Julian and Gregorian. Otherwise, you haven't addressed my concern that the Help file text in Legacy needs a total rethink. I still believe that it is based upon several misunderstandings. Beth in Norway (where we, too, have Daylight Saving) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rich from LA CA" April 23, 2004 7:30 PM Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Calendar History Hello Beth, IMOH, the reason we use the double dates is because, as you stated ' people there were aware that they were behind the times' (were they aware), and we in our 'superiorness' have decide to FIX those confused people, and their problems, to coincide with 'right thinking'. That is also why the Roman calanders, and others were re-dated to match ours. Actually, it does have to do with 2 and 3. In the minds of the contemporary, the new year, and the new number, came about 80 days earier. So the ONE year, different in different places, only had about 280 days. This is where the phrase April Fool's came from. What we actually are looking at is government control over uncontrollables. The ancient druids, etc., didn't need to count to find new years day, they just looked at the sky. In the USA, we also have Daylithe savings time, which really is so the schools can start at a time in daylight, not 'an hour after dawn'. Since I believe you are from Norway (per e-mail), you will understand the ludicrousness of the whole thing. I have to stop rambling on and on and on. Rich in LA CA -----Original Message----- From: "N. B. Macdonald" Sent: Apr 22, 2004 7:43 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [LegacyUG] Calendar History Hi, Just been reading up (again) on "Calendar History" on the web. And comparing it to the section in Legacy "Help" of the same name. This guy http://www.genfair.com/dates.htm seems to know what he's talking about. If he is right, Legacy Help is wrong. And vice versa. As I understand it, three things happened, at various times in various countries: 1. (Gregorian) Ten (or, later, eleven) days were removed from the year. 2. (Gregorian) New rules for leap year were adopted. 3. (Other) New Year's Day changed from 25 Mar to 01 Jan. "Double dating" has to do with no. 3, not 1 or 2. It occurred anywhere people still starting their year on 25th March had contact with others using 1st January as the start of the year. This occurred BEFORE as well as after Pope Gregory XIII instituted his new calendar in 1582. In other words, Old Style and New Style have nothing to do with Julian and Gregorian calendars. They just seem to, to us, as England and its colonies happened to make both of the changes in the same year and people there were aware that they were behind the times. Many other countries, including Scotland and Denmark/Norway, adopted 01 Jan as the start of the year many decades before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. It's not real easy to get this straight. Anyone else who's interested care to comment? --Beth in Norway Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
