Calendar for 1641-42.

Although farmers and no doubt 'ordinary' people referred to 1 January as New Years Day, the year number changed on Lady Day, (the first Quarter day), 25 March. This was changed to our modern system when 1751 was cut short by three months and ended on 31 December. Not only did 1752 start on 1 January, but 11 days between the 2 and 14 September were removed from the calendar, (i.e.: 3 to 13 September missing). This is why the financial year starts on the 5 April and why many references to old documents give the year as, eg. 14 Feb. 1650/51. To labour the point, 25 March 1642 was the day after 24 March 1641. Any disbelievers go and look at the parish registers!

This change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar had already taken place in the rest of Europe in 1582 when the ten days between 4 October and 15 October were removed. The error had gradually accumulated because the Julian calendar allowed century years to be leap years, whereas Gregorian calendar century years can only be leap years if they are divisible by 400.

Thus in 1642 English dates were ten days behind European dates and by 1751 were eleven days behind because we had an extra day in 1700 (29 February ) that the rest of Europe didn't have because 1700 isn't divisible by 400.

January 1641
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

February
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

March
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

March 1642
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

April
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

May
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

June
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
16
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

July
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

August
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
24
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

September
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

October
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

November
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

December
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

Saints Days.
Candllemasse also Crownation Day
2 Feb
 St. Peter's Day
29 June
St. Matthias Feast
24 Feb
 Mary Magdalen Day
22 July
Start of Lent
1 Mar
St. James' Day
25 July
Last Day of 1641
24 Mar
Lammas
1 Aug
St. Lawrence's Day
10 Aug
Lady Day
25 Mar
Assumptio Mariae
15 Aug
Easter Day
10 Apr
Super Nativitatem Mariae, Our Lady in Harvest
8 Sept
Easter Monday
11 Apr
St. Mark's Day
25 Apr
St. Mathew's Day
21 Sept
May Day
2 May
Michaelmasse
29 Sept
St. Hellen Masse
3 May
St. Luke's Day
18 Oct
Cross or Rogation Days
16 May
 St. John of Beverley Day
25 Oct
17 May
All Saints Day
1 Nov
18 May
Powder Treason Day
5 Nov
Holy Thursday Ascension Day
19 May
Martynmasse
11 Nov
Whit Sunday Pentecost
29 May
 St. Andrewemasse
30 Nov
Trinity Sunday
5 June
St. Thomas' Day
21 Dec
Trinity Monday
6 June
Christmasse
25 Dec
St. John the Baptist
24 June
 St. Stephen's Day
26 Dec
St. John's Day
27 Dec
Innocent's Day
28 Dec

Sources:

Unix operating system.

The Farming & Memorandum Books of Henry Best of Elmswell 1642.

D Wooward. The Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 726029 2 London 1984.

Dyurnall of Adam Eyre. Sheffield University Library.

The Churchwarden's Accounts of St. Nicholas, Strood. Kent. Pt II, Kent Archeological Society. 1927.

Devon Household Accounts, 1627-59. Pt I, Devon & Cornwall Record Society. ISBN 0 901853 38 1. 1995.

Studying Family and Community History Vol I. Ed. R.Finnegan et al. Pub. Cambridge.