The county day of Staffordshire is May 1st. This date was chosen in a July 2015 poll organised by the local tourist department “Enjoy Staffordshire” to commemorate the county’s 1,000th birthday in 2016, its first recorded mention being in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the year 1016. Enjoy Staffordshire’s tourism and marketing team leader Graeme Whitehead was inspired by a similar vote in Lancashire, “We want Staffordshire Day to create the same excitement and pride in our county, on a date which the whole of Staffordshire can get behind.”
Five possible dates reflecting a significant moment in the region’s history were selected as candidates in the poll;
May 1 – the founding of Josiah Wedgwood and Sons which took place in 1759;
July 5 – the anniversary of the discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard, which was uncovered in 2009;
September 6 – on that day in 1651 King Charles II hid in an oak tree in South Staffordshire;
September 18 – this was the birth date of Doctor Samuel Johnson who was born on this date in Lichfield in 1709;
September 27 – renowned engineer James Brindley, who lived in Leek, passed away on this date in 1772.
with May 1st winning the poll.
