Important Dates for 1883

Stuck at home, with nowhere to go I've returned to my old hobby of reading local newspapers from  1882.  It's a niche hobby but it is uniquely mine.

I know that you couldn't care less that the Orleans Club was brought down by Charles Timperley, the master of the workhouse and the rest of the Maldon eleven, even though the ground was slow going.  I'm sure you are also less than interested in the same man's vocal stylings at the cricket club concert, even though the comment, "Of the able performances of this little chorus, too much could not be said," does make you wonder just how bad he was.

What I do know you will be interested in are the important dates for 1883, printed in  a December 1882 edition.

Jan 1 – New Year’s Day 5 – Hedge Sparrow sings 6 – Epiphany 17 – Blackbird whistles 21 – Septuagesima Sunday 27 – Field Speedwell flowers 28 – Sexagesima Sunday	Feb 1 – Pheasant and Partridge shooting ends 2 – Candlemas Day 6 – Shrove Tuesday 7 – Ash Wednesday 11 – Quadragesima Sunday 14 – Valentines Day	March 1 – St David’s Day 17 – St Patrick’s Day 18 – Palm Sunday 23 – Good Friday 25 – Easter Sunday
April 1 – Low Sunday 5 – Game licences expire 6 – Old lady day 12 – Swift appears 23 – St George’s Day 29 – Rogation Sunday	May 2 – Rogation Day 3 – Ascension Day 9 – Honeysuckle flowers 13 - Pentacost Whit Sunday 16 – Ember Day 20  - Trinity Sunday 24 – Queen Vic born 1819 25 – Milkwort flowers 28 – Gueldre rose flowers 31 – Joan of Arc burned	June 21 – Proclamation Day 28 – Queen Vic crowned 1838
July 3 – Dog Days begin 23 – Horehound flowers 26 – Teasel flowers	August 1 – Lammas Day 6 – Bank holiday 11 – Dog Days end 13 – Grouse shooting begins	Sept 1 – Partridge shooting begins 12 – St Ledger Day 19 – Ember Day
Oct 1 – Pheasant Shooting begins 6 – Earthquake in England 17 – Foxhunting commences 25 – St Crispin’s Day 29 – Hare hunting begins 31 – All Hallows Eve	Nov 1 – All Saints’ Day 5 – Guy Fawkes Day 22 – St Cecilia’s Day 30 – St Andrew’s Day	Dec 1 – 1st Sunday in Advent 4 – New law courts appeared (1882) 21 – St Thomas Sh Day 25 – Christmas Day 26 – Bank Holiday 28 – Innocents Day 30 – Sunday after Christ 31 – New Year’s Eve

 

The thing that constantly surprises me about History is how much things change. You think that holy days and holidays are always the same but there are so many changes.

What surprises me most about these dates is that when the blackbird whistles or the honeysuckle flowers is as important as the Queen's birthday.

Although, now that I know I will be looking out for a whistling blackbird on the 17th of January, checking to see if the field speedwell has flowered on the 25th and whether the hedge sparrow is singing on the 5th.