Old Style and New Style dates

"Old Style" and "New Style" redirect here. For other meanings of old style, see Old Style (disambiguation). For other meanings of new style, see The New Style.

This article is about the 18th-century changes in calendar conventions used by Great Britain and its colonies, together with a brief explanation of usage of the term in other contexts. For a more general discussion of the equivalent transitions in other countries, see Adoption of the Gregorian calendar.

Issue 9198 of The London Gazette, covering the calendar change in Great Britain. The issue spans the changeover; the date heading reads: "From Tuesday September 1, O.S. to Saturday September 16, N.S. 1752".^[1]

Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 1582 and 1923.

In England, Wales, Ireland and Britain's American colonies, there were two calendar changes, both in 1752. The first adjusted the start of a new year from 25 March (Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation) to 1 January, a change which Scotland had made in 1600. The second discarded the Julian calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar, skipping 11 days in the month of September to do so.^[2][3] To accommodate the two calendar changes, writers used dual dating to identify a given day by giving its date according to both styles of dating.

For countries such as Russia where no start-of-year adjustment took place,^[a] O.S. and N.S. simply indicate the Julian and Gregorian dating systems respectively.

Differences between Julian and Gregorian dates

Main article: Gregorian calendar § Difference between Gregorian and Julian calendar dates

The need to correct the calendar arose from the realisation that the correct figure for the number of days in a year is not 365.25 (365 days 6 hours) as assumed by the Julian calendar but slightly less (c. 365.242 days). The Julian calendar therefore has too many leap years. The consequence was that the basis for the calculation of the date of Easter, as decided in the 4th century, had drifted from reality. The Gregorian calendar reform also dealt with the accumulated difference between these figures, between the years 325 and 1582, by skipping 10 days to set the ecclesiastical date of the equinox to be 21 March, the median date of its occurrence at the time of the First Council of Nicea in 325.

Countries that adopted the Gregorian calendar after 1699 needed to skip an additional day for each subsequent new century that the Julian calendar had added since then. When the British Empire did so in 1752, the gap had grown to eleven days;^[b] when Russia did so (as its civil calendar) in 1918, thirteen days needed to be skipped.^[c]

Britain and its colonies or possessions

Memorial plaque to John Etty in All Saints' Church, North Street, York, recording his date of death as "28 of Jan: ⁠170+8/9⁠"

In the Kingdom of Great Britain and its possessions, the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 introduced two concurrent changes to the calendar. The first, which applied to England, Wales, Ireland and the British colonies, changed the start of the year from 25 March to 1 January, with effect from "the day after 31 December 1751".^[6][d] (Scotland had already made this aspect of the changes, on 1 January 1600.)^[7][8] The second (in effect^[e]) adopted the Gregorian calendar in place of the Julian calendar. Thus "New Style" can refer to the start-of-year adjustment, to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, or to the combination of the two. It was through their use in the Calendar Act that the notations "Old Style" and "New Style" came into common usage.

Start-of-year adjustment

Further information: Julian calendar § New Year's Day, Regnal year, and Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 § New Year's Day

When recording British history, it is usual to quote the date as originally recorded at the time of the event, but with the year number adjusted to start on 1 January.^[9] The latter adjustment may be needed because the start of the civil calendar year had not always been 1 January and was altered at different times in different countries.^[f] From 1155 to 1752, the civil or legal year in England began on 25 March (Lady Day);^[10][11] so for example, the execution of Charles I was recorded at the time in Parliament as happening on 30 January 1648 (Old Style).^[12] In newer English-language texts, this date is usually shown as "30 January 1649" (New Style).^[13] The corresponding date in the Gregorian calendar is 9 February 1649, the date by which his contemporaries in some parts of continental Europe would have recorded his execution.

The O.S./N.S. designation is particularly relevant for dates which fall between the start of the "historical year" (1 January) and the legal start date, where different. This was 25 March in England, Wales, Ireland and the colonies until 1752, and until 1600 in Scotland.

In Britain, 1 January was celebrated as the New Year festival from as early as the 13th century, despite the recorded (civil) year not incrementing until 25 March,^[14][g] but the "year starting 25th March was called the Civil or Legal Year, although the phrase Old Style was more commonly used".^[3] To reduce misunderstandings about the date, it was normal even in semi-official documents such as parish registers to place a statutory new-year heading after 24 March (for example "1661") and another heading from the end of the following December, 1661/62, a form of dual dating to indicate that in the following twelve weeks or so, the year was 1661 Old Style but 1662 New Style.^[17] Some more modern sources, often more academic ones (e.g. the History of Parliament) also use the 1661/62 style for the period between 1 January and 24 March for years before the introduction of the New Style calendar in England.^[18][9]

Other notations

Further information: Adoption of the Gregorian calendar and List of adoption dates of the Gregorian calendar by country

Russia

Further information: Adoption of the Gregorian calendar § Russia

The Gregorian calendar was implemented in Russia on 14 February 1918 by dropping the Julian dates of 1–13 February 1918,^[h] pursuant to a Sovnarkom decree signed 24 January 1918 (Julian) by Vladimir Lenin. The decree required that the Julian date was to be written in parentheses after the Gregorian date, until 1 July 1918.^[19]

It is common in English-language publications to use the familiar Old Style or New Style terms to discuss events and personalities in other countries, especially with reference to the Russian Empire and the very beginning of Soviet Russia. For example, in the article "The October (November) Revolution", the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the format of "25 October (7 November, New Style)" to describe the date of the start of the revolution.^[20]

Latin notation: st.v. and st.n.

The Latin equivalents, which are used in many languages, are, on the one hand, stili veteris (genitive) or stilo vetere (ablative), abbreviated st.v., and meaning "(of/in) old style"; and, on the other, stili novi or stilo novo, abbreviated st.n. and meaning "(of/in) new style".^[21] The Latin abbreviations may be capitalised differently by different users, e.g., St.n. or St.N. for stili novi.^[21] There are equivalents for these terms in other languages as well, such as the German a.St. ("alter Stil" for O.S.).

Transposition of historical event dates and possible date conflicts

Thomas Jefferson's tombstone. Written below the epitaph is "Born April 2. 1743. O.S. Died July 4. 1826."

Usually, the mapping of New Style dates onto Old Style dates with a start-of-year adjustment works well with little confusion for events before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Agincourt is well known to have been fought on 25 October 1415, which is Saint Crispin's Day. However, for the period between the first introduction of the Gregorian calendar on 15 October 1582 and its introduction in Britain on 14 September 1752, there can be considerable confusion between events in Continental Western Europe and in British domains. Events in Continental Western Europe are usually reported in English-language histories by using the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Blenheim is always given as 13 August 1704. However, confusion occurs when an event involves both. For example, William III of England arrived at Brixham in England on 5 November (Julian calendar), after he had set sail from the Netherlands on 11 November (Gregorian calendar) 1688.^[22]

The Battle of the Boyne in Ireland took place a few months later on 1 July 1690 (Julian calendar). That maps to 11 July (Gregorian calendar), conveniently close to the Julian date of the subsequent (and more decisive) Battle of Aughrim on 12 July 1691 (Julian). The latter battle was commemorated annually throughout the 18th century on 12 July,^[23] following the usual historical convention of commemorating events of that period within Great Britain and Ireland by mapping the Julian date directly onto the modern Gregorian calendar date (as happens, for example, with Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November). The Battle of the Boyne was commemorated with smaller parades on 1 July. However, both events were combined in the late 18th century,^[23] and continue to be celebrated as "The Twelfth".

Because of the differences, British writers and their correspondents often employed two dates, a practice called dual dating, more or less automatically. Letters concerning diplomacy and international trade thus sometimes bore both Julian and Gregorian dates to prevent confusion. For example, Sir William Boswell wrote to Sir John Coke from The Hague a letter dated "12/22 Dec. 1635".^[22] In his biography of John Dee, The Queen's Conjurer, Benjamin Woolley surmises that because Dee fought unsuccessfully for England to embrace the 1583/84 date set for the change, "England remained outside the Gregorian system for a further 170 years, communications during that period customarily carrying two dates".^[24] In contrast, Thomas Jefferson, who lived while the British Isles and colonies converted to the Gregorian calendar, instructed that his tombstone bear his date of birth by using the Julian calendar (notated O.S. for Old Style) and his date of death by using the Gregorian calendar.^[25] At Jefferson's birth, the difference was eleven days between the Julian and Gregorian calendars and so his birthday of 2 April in the Julian calendar is 13 April in the Gregorian calendar. Similarly, George Washington is now officially reported as having been born on 22 February 1732, rather than on 11 February 1731/32 (Julian calendar).^[26] The philosopher Jeremy Bentham, born on 4 February 1747/8 (Julian calendar), in later life celebrated his birthday on 15 February.^[27]

There is some evidence that the calendar change was not easily accepted. Many British people continued to celebrate their holidays "Old Style" well into the 19th century,^[i] a practice that the author Karen Bellenir considered to reveal a deep emotional resistance to calendar reform.^[28]

See also

• Dual dating – Date given in two different calendars
• Difference between Gregorian and Julian calendar dates (ready-reckoner)
• Old New Year – Informal traditional holiday based on the Julian calendar
• Little Christmas – Alternative title for 6 January ("Old Christmas")

Notes

1. By decrees (1735, 1736) of Peter the Great in December 1699 (with effect from 1 January 1700), Russia changed its start of year from September to January and adopted the AD era in place of Anno Mundi.^[4][5]
2. Because 1600 was a leap year in both calendars, only one extra Julian leap day (in 1700) needed to be taken into account.
3. Because 1600 was a leap year in both calendars, three extra Julian leap days (in 1700, 1800 and 1900) needed to be taken into account.
4. The Act has to use this formulation since "1 January 1752" was still ambiguous.
5. The Calendar Act does not mention Pope Gregory
6. British official legal documents of the 16th and 17th centuries were usually dated by the regnal year of the monarch. As these commence on the day and date of the monarch's accession, they normally span two consecutive calendar years and have to be calculated accordingly, but the resultant dates should be unambiguous.
7. For example, see the Diary of Samuel Pepys for 31 December 1661: "I sat down to end my journell for this year, ...",^[15] which is immediately followed by an entry dated "1 January 1661/62".^[16] This is an example of the dual dating system which had become common at the time.
8. The Julian calendar had by that time drifted by another three days since 1582 (in 1700, 1800 and 1900, see Century leap year) from astronomical reality, so thirteen days needed to be elided.
9. See also Little Christmas.

References

1. "The London Gazette | From Tuesday September 1 O.S. to Saturday September 16 N.S. 1752". London Gazette (9198): 1. 1 September 1752.
2. Poole 1995, pp. 95–139.
3. Spathaky, Mike. "Old Style and New Style Dates and the change to the Gregorian Calendar". Retrieved 19 August 2023.. "Before 1752, parish registers, in addition to a new year heading after 24th March showing, for example '1733', had another heading at the end of the following December indicating '1733/4'. This showed where the Historical Year 1734 started even though the Civil Year 1733 continued until 24th March. ... We as historians have no excuse for creating ambiguity and must keep to the notation described above in one of its forms. It is no good writing simply 20th January 1745, for a reader is left wondering whether we have used the Civil or the Historical Year. The date should either be written 20th January 1745 OS (if indeed it was Old Style) or as 20th January 1745/6. The hyphen (1745-6) is best avoided as it can be interpreted as indicating a period of time."
4. "Ukase No. 1735". Полное собрание законов Российской империи. Том III [Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Volume III.]. 10 December 1699. p. 682.
5. "Ukase No. 1736". Полное собрание законов Российской империи. Том III [Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Volume III.]. 20 December 1699. p. 683.
6. Bond 1875, page 91.
7. Steele 2000, p. 4.
8. Bond 1875, xvii–xviii: original text of the Scottish decree.
9. e.g. Woolf, Daniel (2003). The Social Circulation of the Past: English Historical Culture 1500–1730. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. xiii. ISBN 0-19-925778-7. Dates are Old Style, but the year is calculated from 1 January. On occasion, where clarity requires it, dates are written 1687/8.
10. Nørby, Toke. The Perpetual Calendar: What about England? Version 29 February 2000.
11. Gerard 1908.
12. "House of Commons Journal Volume 8, 9 June 1660 (Regicides)". British History Online. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
13. Death warrant of Charles I web page of the UK National Archives. A demonstration of New Style, meaning Julian calendar with a start of year adjustment.
14. Pollard, A. F. (1940). "New Year's Day and Leap Year in English History". The English Historical Review. 55 (218). Oxford University Press: 180–185. doi:10.1093/ehr/lv.ccxviii.177. JSTOR 553864. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021.
15. Pepys, Samuel (31 December 2004). "Tuesday 31 December 1661". www.pepysdiary.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021.
16. Pepys, Samuel (January 2005). "Wednesday 1 January 1661/62". www.pepysdiary.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021.
17. Spathaky, Mike Old Style and New Style Dates and the change to the Gregorian Calendar. "An oblique stroke is by far the most usual indicator, but sometimes the alternative final figures of the year are written above and below a horizontal line, as in a fraction, thus: ${\displaystyle 17{\tfrac {33}{34}}}$. Very occasionally a hyphen is used, as 1733-34."
18. See for example this biographical entry: Lancaster, Henry (2010). "Chocke, Alexander II (1593/4–1625), of Shalbourne, Wilts.; later of Hungerford Park, Berks". In Thrush, Andrew; Ferris, John P. (eds.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604–1629. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
19. История календаря в России и в СССР (Calendar history in Russia and the USSR) Archived 17 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, chapter 19 in История календаря и хронология by Селешников (History of the calendar and chronology by Seleschnikov) (in Russian). ДЕКРЕТ "О ВВЕДЕНИИ ЗАПАДНО-ЕВРОПЕЙСКОГО КАЛЕНДАРЯ" (Decree "On the introduction of the Western European calendar") Archived 21 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine contains the full text of the decree (in Russian).
20. EB online 2017.
21. Lenz, Rudolf; Uwe Bredehorn; Marek Winiarczyk (2002). Abkürzungen aus Personalschriften des XVI. bis XVIII. Jahrhunderts (3 ed.). Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 210. ISBN 3-515-08152-6.
22. Cheney & Jones 2000, p. 19.
23. Lenihan, Pádraig (2003). 1690 Battle of the Boyne. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus. pp. 258–259. ISBN 0-7524-2597-8.
24. Baker, John. "Why Bacon, Oxford and Other's Weren't Shakespeare". Archived from the original on 4 April 2005.) uses the quote by Benjamin Woolley and cites The Queen's Conjurer, The Science and Magic of Dr. John Dee, Adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, page 173.
25. "Old Style (O.S.)". monticello.org. June 1995. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
26. Engber, Daniel (18 January 2006). "What's Benjamin Franklin's Birthday?". Slate. Retrieved 8 February 2013. (Both Franklin's and Washington's confusing birth dates are clearly explained.)
27. Sprigge, Timothy L. S., ed. (2017) [1968]. "Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham, 15 Feb. 1776". The Correspondence of Jeremy Bentham: Volume I: 1752–76 (PDF). London: UCL Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-911576-05-1. God's-daddikins! it is my birthday – say something pretty to me on the occasion.
28. Bellenir, Karen (2004). Religious Holidays and Calendars. Detroit: Omnigraphics. p. 33.

Sources

• Bond, John James (1875). Handy Book of Rules and Tables for Verifying Dates With the Christian Era Giving an Account of the Chief Eras and Systems Used by Various Nations...'. London: George Bell & Sons. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
• Cheney, C. R.; Jones, Michael, eds. (2000). A Handbook of Dates for Students of British History (PDF). Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks. Vol. 4 (Revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 17–20. ISBN 978-0-521-77095-8.
• Gerard, John (1908). "General Chronology § Beginning of the year" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Russia: the October (November) Revolution (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
• Steele, Duncan (2000). Marking Time: the epic quest to invent the perfect calendar. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0471404217.
• Poole, Robert (1995). "'Give us our eleven days!': calendar reform in eighteenth-century England". Past & Present (149). Oxford Academic: 95–139. doi:10.1093/past/149.1.95. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014.

External links

• Untangling Lady Day dating and the Julian Calendar by Erin Blake (Folger Library)
• The Perpetual Calendar by Toke Nørby - Details of conversion for many countries
• Side-by-side Old style–New style reference by Petko Yotov
• Calendar Converter by John Walker