by Steven Dugan
Genealogists work with dates—a lot of dates. Not only do they provide valuable information in researching your ancestors, but they are an important piece of evidence to help you determine if the person you are researching belongs to your tree.
In the United States, much of our genealogical research deals with countries that have used both the Julian and Gregorian calendars at some point in their history. Enacted by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, the Julian calendar, like the Gregorian calendar, is a solar-based one. Earlier examples, such as those devised by the Romans and Jews, had anywhere from 304-355 days, which we know now, is still short of the 365-day one we use today. Caesar’s aides calculated the year as being 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds long, which they rounded up about 11 minutes to 365.25 days per year. This is the reason why we have a Leap Year, or an extra day added to the calendar every 4 years. In 42 BCE, two years after Caesar’s death, priests started adding a Leap Day every three years instead of four, which, over time, started to misalign the calendar with the solar year (the time it takes for the Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun). It took another 40 years of adjusting to bring it back to the days of Caesar. After the year 8 CE, the calendar resumed adding a Leap Day every 4 years. The Julian Calendar also used January 1 as the first day of the year, while other European countries (including England), used March 25 (Lady Day, or Annunciation Day).
The Julian Calendar was used from 45 BCE to 4 October 1582 CE. Over those 14 centuries, the gap between the calendar and the solar year continued to expand to the point where it was 10 days behind the solar year. The current gap is a 13-day difference.
The Pope gets involved
Calendar reform had been proposed as early as 1545, but it wasn’t completed for nearly three decades until during the papacy of Gregory XIII. The Pope declared this new calendar be used in all Roman Catholic countries and territories, beginning in October. That month was chosen as to not interfere with any major church holidays. The calendar, named Gregorian after the Pontiff, was created in part by astronomers Aloysius Lilius and Christopher Clavius. They calculated the year to better fit Earth’s solar year. The biggest change was a different calculation of leap days. Instead of a leap year every four years, the only exceptions deal with century years (e.g., 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000). The rule is that if the century year is divisible 100 and not by 400, the leap year is skipped. The year 2000 was a leap year (divisible by 100 and 400), but the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not. The next century year is 2100 and it is not a leap year.
Perhaps the most controversial change in the new calendar was the elimination of ten days to realign the calendar with the solar year. These are known today as the “Ten Days that Vanished.” An explanation can be found here. They also recommended that the calendar change happen in one move. Pope Gregory agreed. So, instead of removing one day a year for a decade, as one proposal offered, the ten were suddenly stricken from the calendar so that residents of countries that adopted it in 1582 went to bed on Thursday, October 4 and woke up the next day, Friday, October 15. There—the calendar was fixed! Well . . . kind of.
Pope Gregory XIII only had the power to implement this change within the Holy Roman Empire. Protestant and non-Christian countries rejected the change. Protestants in England thought the calendar reform was an attempt to bring England back into the Catholic fold. In defiance, England and its colonies (including what would become the United States), didn’t switch to the Gregorian Calendar until 1752. Other countries gradually followed suit until most of the world’s countries switched over.
This gap between the two calendars has resulted in what’s called Dual, or Double Dating. From 1582 to whenever a country made the change to the Gregorian calendar, historians, genealogists, and other researchers have had to deal with two different years of birth and death dates. This can be confusing for those new to genealogy.
The last European country to switch over was Greece, which adopted the calendar in 1923, and Saudi Arabia is the most recent to make the change, having done so in 2016. While using the Gregorian Calendar for civic use is common, countries which have large populations who practice Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other religions, still use the Julian Calendar for religious and other holy festivals. A list of when countries of the world converted to the Gregorian Calendar can be found here.
Examples of Double (Dual) Dating in Genealogy
In the United States, genealogists use Double Dating for dates between January 1 and March 25 that fall between October 1582 and September 1752. This practice accounts for the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the historical difference at the start of the new year. The most common way genealogists see Double or Dual Dating, is when they see an entry like this:
This small section of our own Temple family tree shows that four of the entries have two years of birth or death listed. At first glance, one might think the information is spotty, inaccurate, or the exact date is unknown. It was because England and her colonies had not yet adopted the Gregorian calendar. All of these double entries means that the birth or death dates occurred between January 1 and March 25 (the old New Year’s Day in England), before 1752, the year the country adopted the Gregorian calendar. Looking at Abraham Temple’s dates (1675/76 – 1753), his birthday occurred sometime between January 1 and March 25, 1675. Online research shows Abraham was born on January 2, 1675 in Massachusetts and he died on January 24, 1753 (just after the calendar’s adoption) in New Jersey.
Our Founding Fathers weren’t immune to the Old vs. New Style of dating:
George Washington (February 11, 1731 [O.S. or Old Style] February 22, 1732 [N.S. or New Style] – December 14, 1799). Notice the change in the year of Washington’s year of birth depends on which style you’re using. To convert Abraham Temple’s dates, it would read: January 2, 1675 (O.S.)/January 13, 1676 (N.S.) – January 24, 1753.
If you’re interested in studying family history and learning all about Double Dating and more, we invite you to attend It’s All Relative, our free genealogy workshop, taking place on June 28 from 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We will cover the basics of genealogical research, such as collecting and organizing facts and discovering the places you can find information both online and in person. Participants will also receive live case studies showing the tools in use that they learned in the workshop. There are still spots available. If you are interested in joining us, and the link to RSVP is here.
All good information Steve about the changes between the two calendars. To a genealogist a birthday and death day are important points of historical information. But how important were birthdays to normal people back then?
Today birthdays are an important identifier in a digital age. People are not just John Smith, They are John Smith with SS number 123-45-6789 AND birthday 02-21-1962. To access files, bank accounts or even health care, a person typically must be able to state all three data points.
Way back when infant mortality was high, I understand that naming an infant might not even occur until the baptism and that might occur only after the first year of life. So the first birthday might be important but after that, I havent seen birthday celebrations much in historical references. (Images, letters, reminisces)
Genealogists know that typically recorded birth information comes from church records. I dont know exactly when the secular government began recording birth dates.
Today Washington’s birthday became a holiday, but how much did George celebrate his birthday during his lifetime? Did common people before the 1700s(?) even celebrate birthdays?
Some accounting might occur to mark a child becoming an adult (Bar/Bat Mitzvah or first communion) but cakes or parties at age 6 or 10? I havent read much about them.
Sometimes children were sent to work or an apprenticeship at a very young age. Very unlikely to have a birthday party in those situations.
So much in society 200+ years ago did not require an exact age, e.g. being betrothed, voting (which was not allowed for women or men of low standing). And without retirement plans becoming age 65 didn’t mean much.
Stories from my grandparents (born between 1900 and 1905) never discussed celebrating birthdays as a child. They did talk about being members of a “Birthday Club” during the late 1940s and 1950s where seemingly adults gathered once a month to celebrate people’s birthdays but they were older and the world was different from when they were born. I wish I asked them more about celebrating birthdays as children.
Having an accurate death day might be important because it would be part of probating and dividing the estate. So documentation (death certificate?) and an accurate recording of the date would happen for a person of means. But probably not poor people.
Anyway, when the calendar changed, it did change the birthdates (wedding dates too?) but in your research how much did it matter?
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your comments. I’ll admit, you hit the nail on the head right away. Genealogists see vital records such as birth and death dates primarily as historic markers in the lives of the people they study. A genealogist then tries to find other information to provide a clearer picture of their lives. In other words, we’re filling in the “dash” in between the birth and death dates. Learning about the many ways cultures celebrate birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and death anniversaries certainly adds to our understanding.
The simple answer on whether birthdays were celebrated is yes, they were. Birthday celebrations go back to Ancient Egypt, around 3000 BCE. The Pharaohs celebrated the “Godliness” of other Pharaohs, rather than their physical birth. Cakes, candles, and gifts emerged in 18th century Germany, and birthday celebrations caught on here in the states in the mid-1800s.
Wedding anniversary celebrations followed a similar pattern. They began in Ancient Rome. The practice of giving wreaths of silver and gold for the 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries began during the Holy Roman Empire. Modern celebrations (read: Emily Post suggestions) include so-called traditional gifts the two spouses give each other at 5-year intervals.
Death anniversaries have been commemorated by many countries, cultures, and religions throughout history. Almost every culture and faith has yearly celebrations to honor their dead. Many Christian denominations celebrate their dead on All Saints Day (November 1). In Judaism, the family of the deceased practices seven-day, thirty-day, and one-year rituals, filled with prayers, family and community support, and candle lighting. Other cultures and faiths also have yearly commemorations which include varied rituals as part of their mourning periods.
As you suggested, birthdays and wedding anniversaries were not as widely celebrated as they are now. And I wasn’t too surprised to learn that death anniversaries seem to have a deeper tradition than the other two.—Steve