I wonder if anyone can help me. I am looking at some records on FindMyPast that have been transcribed by Notts FHS from the PRs and BTs. I'm mainly looking at Wysall area in the first half of the 1700s and the end of the 1600s.
In the baptisms and marriages there are many records which are given with two years i.e the PRs will say one year e.g.1732 and the BTs 1733. This happens a lot. Does anyone know why? It is before the Gregorian calendar change so not that. I did wonder if perhaps the BTs were written up much later and they got in a muddle. Or was it something else?
Brie
I am assuming you mean date from the first three months of the year, this occurs as Mckha489 states due to the calendar change or more correctly the year change.
The problem is many transcribers thought it best to correct the year on the transcript not realising that if their readers saw the transcript in isolation they would nor know whether a change had been made or not.
Due to this problem double dating was introduced, i.e. 15 Feb 1732/3 meant the date was recorded in the original record which used the old calendar as 15 Feb 1732 but that would equate to, or be recorded as 15 Feb 1733 using the new calendar.
The most likely reason the PRs and the BTs year dates were different is the transcripts were done by different transcribers at different times.
I say the most likely reason because I have not checked what dates the original registers used as some vicars pre-empted the year in line with the earlier change instigated by Rome.
In the U.K., Scotland introduced the year change in 1600 (but adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752), whereas England changed both the year and corrected/ adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752. (Greece was the last European country to adopt the calendar in 1923).
Cheers
Guy
