England Saints Days Abdon to Lady (National Institute)

Saints’ Days
The people of the Middle Ages had a firm faith in the Saints, and each was especially revered on a particular day of the year. Saints names were used in the dedication of churches, as patrons of certain occupations, cities and counties (Dixon), and as given names of children born on the saint’s day. The village church is often dedicated to the saint associated with the specialty craft of the village at the time it was built. The stained glass windows and paintings in the parish church may also indicate local crafts in the same manner. In such a way the saint’s support and protection were sought. A family historian faced with the sudden appearance of a new given name in the family might well consider if this was the patron saint of the father’s occupation, the village church, or that the child was born on a particular saint’s day. Events in parish registers and other documents may be recorded by reference to the feast day of the saint, or ‘on the eve of a St. X’s day,’ or reference made to ‘the morrow being such a day’ (Webb’s Dates and Calendars for the Genealogist). A list of the commonly encountered saints and their days is presented in the chart below and further details on the reasons for those dates and patronages may be obtained from Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints, John J. Delaney’s Dictionary of Saints, and Ruth S. Gregory’s Anniversaries and Holidays. An extensive list by month and day is given by Leslie Alan Dunkling (First Names First, 1977). Other feast days, both fixed and movable can be found in Smith and Gardner’s Genealogical Research in England and Wales Vol III.

Chart: Saints Days and Patronages

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