Timekeeping in Early Modern England
In early modern England the time and date was often an informal matter, which had the potential to pose problems.
In 1563 Elizabeth Flynte, a servant from Haselor, Warwickshire, described the extra-marital activities of her mistress to the church court of the Lichfield diocese:
He come in here this night, remained four or five hours, left til some other time about 3 of the clock in the morning. The first night being about Michaelmas last and the second night was about a month or 3 weeks then next following and the third night was about Lenton Fayre last past.
To explain when her mistress’ lover had visited the house, Elizabeth combined complementary systems of time reckoning. She clearly knew how to use clock and calendar time but also opted for other familiar markers, such as ecclesiastical and local events. Informal references such as these were considered robust enough for court proceedings – as long as the courts could understand the dates and times they represented.
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