Years and years ago..

cleremy jarkson

.. Did the average man and woman know what date, month and year it was? I'm talking about from back in the 1800's to the time of st patrick perhaps. Or did they just live day to day without any timeline in their minds, apart from what day of the week it was? Like did everyody in Ireland at the time of the black death know it was the year 1348?

When did people in Ireland and Europe begin using the system for naming years that we use nowadays? I would guess, for example, that they didn't call the year 500 ad, 500 ad.

I remember hearing that lots of the poor in Ireland at the time of 1901 census didn't know what age they were; is this true? I know many lied abut their age when the old age pension came about but did people generally have no concept of what year they were born or what age they were until relatively recently?

Bobjims

cleremy jarkson wrote: »

.. Did the average man and woman know what date, month and year it was? I'm talking about from back in the 1800's to the time of st patrick perhaps. Or did they just live day to day without any timeline in their minds, apart from what day of the week it was? Like did everyody in Ireland at the time of the black death know it was the year 1348?

When did people in Ireland and Europe begin using the system for naming years that we use nowadays? I would guess, for example, that they didn't call the year 500 ad, 500 ad.

I remember hearing that lots of the poor in Ireland at the time of 1901 census didn't know what age they were; is this true? I know many lied abut their age when the old age pension came about but did people generally have no concept of what year they were born or what age they were until relatively recently?

From what I've heard, widespread public knowledge of the date and time only occured once railways started to reach different parts of the country. All trains relied heavily on the date and time so I'd imagine that train stations would have had this quite accurate. Im not an expert by any means but I think this makes sense.

cleremy jarkson

Bobjims wrote: »

From what I've heard, widespread public knowledge of the date and time only occured once railways started to reach different parts of the country. All trains relied heavily on the date and time so I'd imagine that train stations would have had this quite accurate. Im not an expert by any means but I think this makes sense.

I suppose that would make sense alright. I was thinking that newspapers might have made knowing the date more widespread amongst those in between the poorest and the upper class... so about the early 1800's maybe? It's hard to imagine how I would view the world without an instinctive knowledge of my place on the timeline of world history, although if your daily activity is to simply keep fed, and earn enough to keep a roof over your head, I'm sure there'd be no need to have a clear idea of what date it is.

brianthebard

Time; church bells, the path of the sun, sun dials and candle clocks (as well as other stuff) were all in use for centuries so anyone within reach of any of those things could know the hour mark (roughly). Proper clocks became popular around about the nineteenth century for the above reasons.

Day; Well they all knew what day Sunday was so it wouldn't be too hard to figure out what day it was based on how far away sunday was. Not sure if the priest says the day and date during each mass, if he does then any practising religious folk would know both.

Date; Calendars weren't that uncommon I imagine? Maybe not every house had one but they are another basic measurement of time that goes back for centuries.

DOB; That would have been the hardest for people to know because there weren't records kept and birthdays would have been only celebrated by the rich until recently. Plus you had bigger families. A few decades into adulthood most people could probably only guess their age unless they were born around the time of a significant event and even then that's not guaranteed, memory, etc. A lot of people in the 1911 census increased their age for the pension though, some of my relatives jumped 26 years or so in age over the decade between 1901 and 1911.

cleremy jarkson

brianthebard wrote: »

A lot of people in the 1911 census increased their age for the pension though, some of my relatives jumped 26 years or so in age over the decade between 1901 and 1911.

Yeah the ages for 1901 and 1911 were more than 10 years apart for the adult ancestors I knew the names of. I remember hearing that to get the pension, people were asked if they could remember the "night of the big wind", in 1840 I think it was.

Also, does anyone know if there was a system for numbering years in Ireland before the current system came into use ie. before christianity

owenc

Nope they didn't know what age they were or what day it was they just had a rough guideline.. this is proven in the 1901 and 1911 census when ages are about three or four years out.

dave2pvd

This 14th century clock can be found in Salisbury Cathedral.



It did not have a traditional face, rather, it was used to ring the spire bell on the hour. One strike for one o'clock, 2 for 2 o'clock, etc. It is reputed to be the oldest mechanical clock in the world. I say reputed, as this is a bit of controversial point. However, there is historical evidence (written) of a mechanical clock in Salisbury as early as 1306.

So, I suppose one has to conclude that some people back then at least knew what time is was.

As for date, month and year - I would assume that a mostly agrarian society had to know seasons with relative accuracy, no? Plus, Ireland being mostly Christian or Catholic would have celebrated certain church dates, right?

pinkypinky

cleremy jarkson wrote: »

Yeah the ages for 1901 and 1911 were more than 10 years apart for the adult ancestors I knew the names of. I remember hearing that to get the pension, people were asked if they could remember the "night of the big wind", in 1840 I think it was.

That's true about being asked if they remembered the Big Wind. However, having looked at a lot of census returns and birth/death/marriages, most people know their approximate age. They can be out by a little bit, one or two years. Also, the younger the person is, the more accurate the age will be. The census of 1901 was not taken on the same day as the 1911, so some people will be have a one year discrepancy, if they have a birthday between the 2 dates, and still be correct on both.

InTheTrees

Religion was probably the reason for a detailed calendar wasnt it? And if people attended church then they would have been aware of the date. Probably not too useful or relevant in daily life though.

Didnt The venerable Bede plot out the basic christian calendar or was that just easter?