I found a UK newspaper article from October 1918, which made reference to ‘last June’. What’s the likelihood of that meaning June 1917, as opposed to June 1918?
I assume if it was 1917, they would have said ‘June last year’, but I don’t know if that was correct English at the time.
Btw, I’ve checked through some of the old questions, and none seem to be about the same time period, so I’m assuming it’s alright to post this one.
Answer
It means the most recent previous June.
For an unambiguous example see the 3 January 1874 The Church of England Magazine at page 15:
I gave an account last June* of the happy death of one of my little Sunday-school children…
*See "Church of England Magazine" June 30th, 1873.
Or more specifically concerning writing "last June" during October, see:
Page 93 of In memoriam, Eliza Boardman Burnz, born, October 31, 1823, deceased, June 19, 1903 where "THE SCHOOL JOURNAL: October 31st 1903." is quoted as saying:
until the time of her death last June, Mrs. Burnz…
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Leigh , Answer Author : DavePhD
