Can anyone make sense of this?

[Nell]

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/4732/41511_636672_1186-00008/16090296?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dGloucBMDearly

It's the parish register for Upper Swell. It has a baptism for a William son of John Mealin Junr for 01 Jul 1722, followed by a burial for William son of John Mealin Junr for January 17th 1722. Is January an error for July?

[kiterunner]

Don't forget they were on the old calendar, so January 1722 would be after July 1722, Nell.

[Nell]

What? Enlighten me, please!

[kiterunner]

The year used to start on 25th March until 1752 (in England and Wales), Nell.

More information on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_%28New_Style%29_Act_1750

You will often see years written in a "double year" format for January, February and the first part of March on old PR's, e.g. 1722/3. But not always - it was also common just to put the official year in. When you see a transcription for an event between 1 Jan and 24 Mar before 1752, it's always worth checking whether the year has been "corrected" or not as it can get confusing.

The Bishop's Transcripts often continued to cover March to March even after the calendar change.

[Nell]

Ah, got it now. I have enough trouble with British Summertime! Thanks again. It doesn't help as I was hoping this William was my ancestor and he clearly can't be!