‘Give us our eleven days!’ The English calendar riots of 1752.
The eleven days referred to here are the ‘lost’ 11 days of September 1752, skipped when Britain changed over from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, bringing us into line with most of Europe.
The Gregorian calendar is today’s international calendar, named after the man who first introduced it in February 1582, Pope Gregory XIII.
Before 1752, Britain and her Empire followed the Julian calendar, first implemented by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. However this calendar had an inbuilt error of 1 day every 128 years, due to a miscalculation of the solar year by 11 minutes. This affected the date of Easter, traditionally observed on March 21, as it began to move further away from the spring equinox with each passing year.
To get over this problem, the Gregorian calendar was introduced. This is a solar calendar, based on a 365-day year divided into 12 months. Each month consists of either 30 or 31 days with one month, February, consisting of 28 days. A leap year every 4 years adds an extra day to February making it 29 days long.
First to adopt the new calendar in 1582 were France, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Turkey was the last country to officially switch to the new system on January 1st, 1927.
The Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 introduced the Gregorian calendar to the British Empire, bringing Britain into line with most of Western Europe.
Its introduction was not straightforward. It meant that the year 1751 was a short year, lasting just 282 days from 25th March (New Year in the Julian calendar) to 31st December. The year 1752 then began on 1 January.
There remained the problem of aligning the calendar in use in England with that in use in Europe. It was necessary to correct it by 11 days: the ‘lost days’. It was decided that Wednesday 2nd September 1752 would be followed by Thursday 14th September 1752.
Claims of civil unrest and rioters demanding “Give us our eleven days” may have arisen through a misinterpretation of a contemporary painting by William Hogarth. His 1755 painting entitled: “An Election Entertainment” refers to the elections of 1754 and depicts a tavern dinner organised by Whig candidates. A stolen Tory campaign banner with the slogan, “Give us our Eleven Days” can be seen lower right (on the black banner on the floor under the seated gentleman’s foot). The Tories can be seen outside the window, demonstrating.
The changing of the calendar was indeed one of the issues debated in the election campaign of 1754 between the Whigs and the Tories.
It is also true that when the British government decided to alter the calendar and skip these 11 days, many people mistakenly believed that their lives would be shortened by 11 days. People were also unhappy and suspicious at the moving of saint’s days and holy days, including the date of Easter. Many people also objected to the imposition of what they saw as a ‘popish’ calendar.
However, most historians now believe that these protests never happened. You could say that the calendar rioters were the late Georgian equivalent of an urban myth.
Not everyone was unhappy about the new calendar. According to W.M. Jamieson in his book, ‘Murders Myths and Monuments of North Staffordshire’, there is a tale about one William Willett of Endon. Always keen on a joke, he apparently wagered that he could dance non-stop for 12 days and 12 nights. On the evening of September 2nd 1752, he started to jig around the village and continued all through the night. The next morning, September 14th by the new calendar, he stopped dancing and claimed his bets!
Footnote:
Have you have ever wondered why the tax year in Britain starts on the unlikely date of 6th April, rather than 1st January?
The official start of the year on the Julian calendar used to be Lady Day (25th March), and this was also the official start of the tax year. However the introduction of the new calendar and the loss of the eleven days in 1752 meant this date was changed to 5th April in 1753, to avoid losing 11 days of tax revenue. Another change was made to the date in 1800, as this would have been a leap year in the Julian calendar but not in the new Gregorian calendar. So again the tax year was extended and the date changed to 6th April where it remains to this day.
Published: 29th November 2014
FAQs
As a result, eleven days (September 3-13) were deleted forever from the calendar by the British Government to align it with the one used in Europe, a shift from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. This led to widespread riots and people demanded, "Give us our eleven days".
Why did the calendar skip 11 days in 1752? ›
The missing 11 days in September 1752 occurred due to the delayed adoption of the Gregorian calendar by Great Britain and its colonies. They made the adjustment to align their calendar with the rest of Europe, skipping the 11 days to synchronize with the Gregorian calendar.
What were the calendar riots of 1752? ›
' The English calendar riots of 1752. The eleven days referred to here are the 'lost' 11 days of September 1752, skipped when Britain changed over from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, bringing us into line with most of Europe.
What was the calendar correction in 1752? ›
The beginning of the legal new year was moved from March 25 to January 1. Finally, 11 days were dropped from the month of September 1752. The changeover involved a series of steps: December 31, 1750 was followed by January 1, 1750 (under the "Old Style" calendar, December was the 10th month and January the 11th)
Why did 1752 only have 355 days? ›
In the British Empire, it was the only year with 355 days (11 days were dropped), as September 3–13 were skipped when the Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar.
What calendar did Jesus use? ›
The Julian calendar is the one that was introduced in the year 46 BC by Julius Caesar to all of the Roman Empire, and it is the calendar that was used during the life of Jesus Christ and at the time of the early Church.
Which country is 7 years behind? ›
One of the most fascinating aspects of Ethiopia is its unique calendar system. Unlike the Western Gregorian calendar with 12 months, Ethiopia follows a 13-month calendar, placing it seven years behind.
What is the error in the Julian calendar? ›
Although the Julian calendar year overstates the length of a year by a slight error of eleven minutes and fourteen seconds, by the sixteenth century, the accumulated error amount to about ten days.
What is the longest year in history? ›
The calendar that Sosigenes and Caesar created aligned against the backdrop of the stars. Julius Caesar had to add 90 days as 2 "intercalary months" and an extra 23 days to February to the year 46 BCE – to realign – making the year 46 BC, 445 days long – the longest year.
Why is October 1582 missing 10 days? ›
The most surreal part of implementing the new calendar came in October 1582, when 10 days were dropped from the calendar to bring the vernal equinox from March 11 back to March 21. The church had chosen October to avoid skipping any major Christian festivals.
The League of Nations eliminated [the 13-month calendar] when in 1937 the Council submitted only The World Calendar to the various nations for their opinion.
What is the mistake of the Gregorian calendar? ›
The Gregorian calendar differs from the solar year by 26 seconds per year. Despite Lilius' ingenious method for syncing the calendar with the seasons, his system is still off by 26 seconds. As a result, in the years since Gregory introduced his calendar in 1582, a discrepancy of several hours has arisen.
Why did 11 days disappear in 1752? ›
People in Britain going to bed on September 2 1752 woke up the next day on September 14. It happened because the country switched from an old dating system, the Julian calendar, to a new one, the Gregorian calendar.
Does 32 October exist? ›
No, a month has never had 32 days in the common calendar systems used today. The widely accepted calendar systems, such as the Gregorian calendar, follow a pattern where the months have varying lengths, with the maximum number of days being 31.
Which country does not use the Gregorian calendar? ›
Present situation. Today, the vast majority of countries use the Gregorian calendar as their sole civil calendar. The four countries which have not adopted the Gregorian calendar are Ethiopia (Ethiopian calendar), Nepal (Vikram Samvat and Nepal Sambat), Iran and Afghanistan (Solar Hijri calendar).
What happened to the 11 days in 1582? ›
The most surreal part of implementing the new calendar came in October 1582, when 10 days were dropped from the calendar to bring the vernal equinox from March 11 back to March 21. The church had chosen October to avoid skipping any major Christian festivals.
Who caused the calendar confusion in 1582? ›
In 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII introduced his Gregorian calendar, Europe adhered to the Julian calendar, first implemented by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. Since the Roman emperor's system miscalculated the length of the solar year by 11 minutes, the calendar had since fallen out of sync with the seasons.
Why did the calendar skip in 1582? ›
In the year 1582 there were ten days that were not lived: from October 5 to October 14. This was due to a change of calendar, from Julian to Gregorian. As of October 4, 1582, a new calendar began to be used, which received, in honor of the Pope who established it, Gregory XIII, the name "Gregorian".
What is the historical reason about 11 days missing in year 1972? ›
Contrary to popular belief, there were no missing 11 days in the year 1972. This is a common misconception that has been perpetuated by misinformation and urban legends. The Gregorian calendar had already been fully adopted worldwide by the late 18th century, including the United Kingdom and its colonies.
