Quarter Days
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25 March, Lady Day also called Annunciation Day - the annunciation of the Virgin Mary.

From about 1170 to 1 January 1752 the year started on 25 March (Lady Day), previous to this the 
New year started on various days including: 1st March, 25th March, 24th September, 25th December, 
amongst many others.

It was also one of the important quarter days of the year when servants were hired for the next year 
and payments became due. 
(It is still used as the start of the tax year in the UK but with the 11 days added)

Servants were hired for a period of normally one-day short of the year. The reason behind this was 
to avoid the servant being able to claim residence in the parish due to working continuously over a 
year for an employer in the parish (one of the quirks of the poor law).

The other Quarter Days were:

24 June, Midsummer's Day, (the Feast of St. John the Baptist)

29 September, Michaelmas, (the Feast of St Michael the Archangel)

25 December, Yuletide (the Feast of Midwinter, later Christmas Day, celebrating of birth of Jesus Christ).


Differences between the start of the year pre 1752
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When recording British history it is usual to use the dates recorded at the time of the event with 
the year adjusted to start on the first of January. So, for example, the Battle of Hastings is 
universally known to have been fought on 14 October 1066. But the start of the Julian year was not 
always 1 January, and was altered at different times in different countries.

From the 12th century to 1752, the civil or legal year in England began on 25 March (Lady Day) so for 
example the execution of Charles I was recorded at the time in Parliament as happening on 30 January 
1648 (Old Style). In modern English-language texts this date is usually recorded as "30 January 1649" 
(New Style). A full conversion of the date into the Gregorian calendar is 9 February 1649, the date 
by which his contemporaries in some parts of continental Europe would have recorded his execution. 
25 March in New Style is 6 April, and this date is still the first day of the fiscal year in the 
United Kingdom.

The O.S./N.S. designation is particularly relevant for dates which fall between the start of the modern 
year (1 January) and the start of the contemporary year, which was 25 March in England up until 1752.

During the transition years between the first introduction of the Gregorian calendar on continental 
Europe and its introduction in Britain, contemporary usage in England started to change. In Britain 
1 January was celebrated as the New Year festival, but the year starting 25th March was called the 
Civil or Legal Year, although the phrase Old Style was more commonly used. To reduce misunderstandings 
on the date, it was normal in parish registers to place a new year heading after 24 March, for example 
1661 had another heading at the end of the following December indicating "1661/62". This was to explain 
to the reader that the year was 1661 Old Style and 1662 New Style.

You can quickly calculate the difference, but beware of transcriptions that have already been adjusted!!


Conversion from Julian to Gregorian dates
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 Time period (from
 1 March of first year to	Correction,
 28 February of last year) 	in days

	1-100			-2
	100-200			-1
	200-300			 0
	300-500			+1
	500-600 		+2
	600-700 		+3
	700-900 		+4
	900-1000 		+5
	1000-1100 		+6
	1100-1300 		+7
	1300-1400 		+8
	1400-1500 		+9
	1500-1700 		+10
	1700-1800 		+11
	1800-1900 		+12
	1900-2100 		+13
	2100-2200 		+14