New Year's Day

(New Years Day)

Much confusion is caused by the different calendars, especially for any date between 1st January and 24th March:

Until 13th century, the Church of England reckoned the year from Christmas Day. In 12th century, the Church of England changed and adopted the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin (ie. Lady Day, 25th March) as the start of the year. In the 14th Century, the English civil and legal calendars followed suit. However, because the historical year started on 1st January, some documents show any date between 1st January and 24th March in both calendar systems.

Most European countries and Scotland subsequently adopted 1st January as the first day of the new year.

Eleven Lost Days: The English calendar was reformed in September 1752: 3rd September was reckoned as 14th September. There was widespread protest at the "loss" of 11 days, partly because the common payment system meant that many people lost substantial amounts of their wages. Some people still refer to 6th January as Old Christmas Day — hence "The Twelve Days of Christmas" ending on the feast of the Epiphany.

At the same time, the official first day of the civil year was moved to 1st January. However, the English tax year which had started on Lady Day, the official first day of the old civil and legal year, just moved 11 days to the 6th April. This is still the official start of the tax year (although some parts of government use other dates).

See also Quarter Days and Scottish Term Days.