DATES.
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rom the 13th Mass. Report on Public Records, 1901,Pages 33-34, is taken the following. “Until 1752, when Parliament fixed January 1 as thecommencement of the legal year, it commenced withMarch 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation), and the cus-tom was quite general of calling a month by its num-ber rather than its name. The months were numberedas follows: March 1, April 2, May 3, June 4, July 5,August 6, September 7, October 8, November 9, Decem-ber 10, January 11, February 12. Under this plan thefollowing forms of entry were common: 10. 7mo. 1641;10-7-1641; 10-7ber 1641; meaning September 10, 1641. AFORETIME ay The legal year, until and including 1751, commencedwith March 25, the year 1752 with January 1. Prior to1752, as the legal year did not terminate until March24, it was often the custom to continue the figures be-longing to the months of the chronological year fromMarch 25 to December 31 inclusive, through January.February and March to the 25th of the next legal year.To illustrate: following the date December 31, 1641,will be found entries in regular succession dated Janu-ary, 1641, February, 1641, and March, to the 26th, 1641.Consequently, to determine the correct historical orchronological date in January, February or March, priorto 1752, it is necessary to look back to the precedingDecember or forward to the following April. A moregeneral custom, however, was to double dates in Janu-ary, February, and March to the 25th, and the follow-ing forms of dating will be found: 1641-1642;
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