Читать книгу Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy: The definitive reference guide to tracing your family history - Nick Barratt - Страница 86

… be prepared for pitfalls

1. Be aware that searching archives can be physically demanding and dirty work

2. Older official records will be in Latin, and often abbreviated Latin at that

3. Handwritten records can be hard to read and spellings can be erratic, especially of names

4. Documents may be dated using Regnal years, legal terms and saints’ days

5. Before 1752, years started in March, not January

6. Always bear in mind a document’s original purpose and context

Furthermore, you may come across dates such as 28 February 1700/01, which refer to the old-style dating technique employed by the Church following the Julian calendar, which started the New Year on 25 March, rather than on 1 January as we do today. The practice was dropped in 1752, the same year that the Gregorian calendar was adopted. The best guide to the many and varied ways of writing dates is Cheney’s Handbook of Dates, which provides tables giving Regnal years, Easter days and saints’ days, which were also used as ways of giving a date.