Interpreting the “Wuthering Heights” Timeline

Emily Brontë only names one specific date in Wuthering Heights ― 20th March 1784 as the date of Catherine's (the elder's) death and Cathy's (the younger's) birth. She states that this was a Monday: unfortunately, either Emily did not use a calendar or used an incorrect one as 20 March 1784 was a Saturday. However, if we use the calendar for four years previous, 1780, the days and dates match up until 1800 which would normally be a leap year but was not because it is not divisible by 400 (see Leap Years at Wikipedia). Thus we have to use the calendar for 1802 for 1800; 1803 is also complicated by the leap year rules so we have to use 1809.

In the table below, I show the relevant years in Wuthering Heights and their equivalent calendars.

Explanations: W-Yr (eg. W1784) is the year as mentioned in "Wuthering Heights" (eg. Cathy's birth is in 1784); Lp Yr is whether that year is a leap year or not (marked by a red background); 20 March is the day of the week that 20 March should be on according to the book; C-Yr is the nearest year which actually matches the calendar (eg. C1780); L-Yr is the year used for calculating lunar cycles; 1 Jan and 31 Dec are the days of the week that those days are on; M-Yr is a modern year whose calendar matches the C-Year as it can be difficult to find a calendar for the 18th century (eg. M1972).

W-Yr	Lp Yr	20 March	C-Yr	L-Yr	1 Jan	31 Dec	M-Yr
1771		Fri	1767	1767	Thu	Thu	1959
1772	Yes	Sun	1768	1768	Fri	Sat	1960
1773		Mon	1769	1769	Sun	Sun	1961
1774		Tue	1770	1770	Mon	Mon	1962
1775		Wed	1771	1771	Tue	Tue	1963
1776	Yes	Fri	1772	1772	Wed	Thu	1964
1777		Sat	1773	1773	Fri	Fri	1965
1778		Sun	1774	1774	Sat	Sat	1966
1779		Mon	1775	1775	Sun	Sun	1967
1780	Yes	Wed	1776	1776	Mon	Tue	1968
1781		Thu	1777	1777	Wed	Wed	1969
1782		Fri	1778	1778	Thu	Thu	1970
1783		Sat	1779	1779	Fri	Fri	1971
1784	Yes	Mon	1780	1780	Sat	Sun	1972
1785		Tue	1781	1781	Mon	Mon	1973
1786		Wed	1782	1782	Tue	Tue	1974
1787		Thu	1783	1783	Wed	Wed	1975
1788	Yes	Sat	1784	1784	Thu	Fri	1976
1789		Sun	1785	1785	Sat	Sat	1977
1790		Mon	1786	1786	Sun	Sun	1978
1791		Tue	1787	1787	Mon	Mon	1979
1792	Yes	Thu	1788	1788	Tue	Wed	1980
1793		Fri	1789	1789	Thu	Thu	1981
1794		Sat	1790	1790	Fri	Fri	1982
1795		Sun	1791	1791	Sat	Sat	1983
1796	Yes	Tue	1792	1792	Sun	Mon	1984
1797		Wed	1793	1793	Tue	Tue	1985
1798		Thu	1794	1794	Wed	Wed	1986
1799		Fri	1795	1795	Thu	Thu	1987
1800	No	Sat	1802	1796	Fri	Fri	1993
1801		Sun	1803	1797	Sat	Sat	1994
1802		Mon	1809	1798	Sun	Sun	1995

It is important to know the days of the week as Emily often notes events as being on a specific day, for instance, Heathcliff clashes with Edgar on a Monday. With a consistent calendar, it is possible to narrow days down even further and create a feasible timeline (see the Almanack).

It is also important to be aware of the moon's phases as these are sometimes mentioned by Emily ― eg. when Heathcliff and Isabella elope, there is no moon. Up until W1799, the C-Years can be used both for calendar and lunar dates. For the years from 1800 onwards, it is necessary to combine the calendars for 1802, 1803 and 1809 with the moon cycles for 1796 to 1798.

To see the calendars of all the years used in the story, see the calendar page.