Quarter Days
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)Note 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 poors law).
The other Quarter Days were
24 June, Midsummers Day, (the Feast of St. John the Baptist)
29 September, Michaelmas, (the Feast of St Michael the Archangel)
25 December, Christmas Day.
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Copyright Guy Etchells © 2000 All rights reserved. Permission is granted for all free personal and non-commercial uses. It is my intention to make all data contained herein freely available for all private, non-profit and non-commercial uses. Commercial use of any portion contained herein is expressly prohibited. |
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