Happy Lady Day, AKA Old New Year’s Day!

Until 1752, 25^th March was the first day of the new year in Great Britain and its colonies. I mentioned this briefly in a post earlier this year, but today, let’s go into more detail about why it was the old New Year’s Day.

Across the globe, the new year has been and is still celebrated at different times. According to Ancient Origins, the Egyptians celebrated the New Year when the Nile flooded. The spring equinox marked the start of the new year for the Phoenicians and the Persians, while the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice. The first day of the Chinese New Year, however, occurred with the second new moon after the winter solstice.

Why 25^th March?

In the Christian faith, 25^th March marks the feast of the Annunciation, when Archangel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would be the mother of the son of God. It’s also known as Lady Day, and you’ll note it is exactly nine months before Christmas Day. This is because no one knew the exact date of Jesus’s birth. The leaders of early Christianity chose 25^th December, so the day of conception had to be nine months before that, of course.

Because of the religious significance of Lady Day, it was adopted as the first day of the new year.

When did it change to 1^st January?

Before Christianity had begun, Julius Caesar replaced the old Roman calendar in 46 BCE because it had become out of sync with the sun’s movement. He made 1^st January the first day of the new year, but when Christianity took hold in Europe, they changed it to 25^th March.

In 1652, Pope Gregory XIII decided that January 1^st was actually a better day for the new year to begin and changed it back again.

We Brits, however, are sticklers for tradition, so we continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on 25^th March until 1752. I know, I’m having a dig at Brits and our love of the old ways, but it’s more likely they resisted the change because it was instigated by the Catholic Church and anti-Catholic sentiment remained high. Not before time, the Calendar (New Style) Act of 1750 aligned Britain and its colonies with the rest of Europe. 

Bring Back Old New Year’s Day!

I can see the appeal of starting the new year at the end of March. I always feel apathetic towards supposed new beginnings at the end of December. It’s still the bleak midwinter and I’ve barely recovered from Christmas.

At least in March, the days are getting longer, spring is well underway, nature is re-awakening, and there’s a more positive feeling in the air. But then again, in the southern hemisphere the opposite is happening.

Would you prefer to celebrate new beginnings in March? If we were living in Britain before 1752, I’d be wishing you a Happy New Year today, so have a good one!