Good thing Brewster wasn’t living in Britain in 1752 when the British empire switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. (Something most of the rest of Europe did almost 200 years previously.) To bring the “old style” calendar into sync with the solar/Gregorian calendar, it was necessary to drop 11 days, which was done in September of that year. Thus September 2, 1752 was followed by September 14, 1752.`As might be expected, there was a good amount of confusion resulting. Some English objected because they felt they were somehow made 11 days older than they would be otherwise. Perhaps a more rational objection was that landlords usually collected the rent from the tenant farmers every quarter; though the 3rd quarter of 1752 was short 11 days the landlords still charged a full quarter’s rent. Anniversary dates (birthdays, contract dates, etc.) were also made somewhat indeterminate, with some keeping the original listed date of the Julian calendar while others moved up the anniversary date by 11 days. For example, George Washington was born on February 11, 1731 according the Julian calendar in effect at the time of his birth. However, Washington decided to preserve the actual day by officially listing his birthdate as February 22.
Good thing Brewster wasn’t living in Britain in 1752 when the British empire switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. (Something most of the rest of Europe did almost 200 years previously.) To bring the “old style” calendar into sync with the solar/Gregorian calendar, it was necessary to drop 11 days, which was done in September of that year. Thus September 2, 1752 was followed by September 14, 1752.`As might be expected, there was a good amount of confusion resulting. Some English objected because they felt they were somehow made 11 days older than they would be otherwise. Perhaps a more rational objection was that landlords usually collected the rent from the tenant farmers every quarter; though the 3rd quarter of 1752 was short 11 days the landlords still charged a full quarter’s rent. Anniversary dates (birthdays, contract dates, etc.) were also made somewhat indeterminate, with some keeping the original listed date of the Julian calendar while others moved up the anniversary date by 11 days. For example, George Washington was born on February 11, 1731 according the Julian calendar in effect at the time of his birth. However, Washington decided to preserve the actual day by officially listing his birthdate as February 22.