Everyday Life in a Northumbrian Manor
All Manor of Things: An introduction to manors and their documents
Dates
In the past documents were dated in two ways – Anno Domini (A.D.) or by the number of years a monarch had been on the throne. Both will be covered here along with tips on how to work out the modern date.
Anno Domini (A.D.)
The Anno Domini (A.D.) or “Year of the Lord” date is still used today, e.g. 2024. In documents, it may be written as a number:
“In the Year of our Lord 1749”
Or in words:
“[in] the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred a[nd]
Thirty Eight…”
While this form of dating is the easiest to work out, there is one important rule to remember:
Prior to 1752, the New Year did not start on 1 January but on 25 March (Lady Day).
This means that if you have a date on a document before that year which falls between 1 January and 25 March, you will have to change the year to reflect our modern dating. For example, a document might be dated 16 February 1636 but to us, the correct date is 16 February 1637. Sometimes archivists or historians will write this as 16 February 1636/7.
Regnal Dates
This form of dating may be less familiar as it is rarely used today. However, it can still be found in official documents, including Acts of Parliament.
Regnal year dating is based on when a monarch came to the throne and not on calendar years. For example, Charles III became King on 8 September 2022, with his first regnal year running to 7 September 2023. His second regnal year then started the following day (8 September 2023).
Here’s an example of this in a document:
“the Eleventh year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third”.
There are several sources available to help translate regnal dates to their modern format.
Book
Cheney’s ‘A Handbook of Dates for Students of English History’. This printed book lists monarchs from Henry II to Elizabeth II, giving the start and end of each regnal years. It can also be viewed online here on pages 32 to 44.
Online Resource
You can also use this online converter which will convert the date for you.
A regnal year date is often written as – 2 Hen III (2nd year of Henry III) or 12 Eliz 1 (12th year of Elizabeth I).
Activity - Test your knowledge
Using a copy of Cheney’s Handbook of Dates if you have one, or this online converter, can you work out the A.D. year for the regnal years listed below.
The answers can be found in the drop down below.
