She married at a young age to an older man, possibly because of her father’s death. She escaped Malta’s densely packed harbour area to move to the fishing village of St Julian’s.

She is one of my maternal 3 x great-grandmothers.

Angelica, or Angelina¹, was born on Sunday 23 May 1819². She is the daughter of Ferdinand Alessandro and Maria Mifsud².

She was baptized in St Paul’s Shipwreck church² the day after² as Giuseppa Vincenza Carmela Angelica Elisabetta Anna Orade but known as Angelica². Even if her first name is Giuseppa, all other references to her call her Angelica, especially official state documents. I refer to her as Angelica because of this.

The entry in the church register for her birth lists her father’s surname as Alessandra, not Alessandro².

Family

She married Paolo Farrugia³ on Sunday 18 September 1836³ in St Paul’s Collegiate church, Valletta³. The Reverend John Callus officiated³.

Together they had 2 children I know of:

• Maria Carmela Liberata Margarita Giovanna Vincenza Filomena Antonia⁴
• Emilia⁵

Notable events

She lived in Valletta before marriage⁶ and later moved to Senglea where she gave birth to Emilia⁵. The family moved again to St Julian’s before her daughter married⁵.

Her marriage

Since her father was already dead at the time of her marriage, it’s possible this marriage was a rushed affair. Women couldn’t work in those days, and if the Alessandros didn’t have an independent source of income, marriage was the only way they’d have been able to survive.

Death

I don’t have any information on when, how or where she died.

References

1. Act of death of Emilia Farrugia. (1946). [online] (203). Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 06 Nov. 2024][↩]
2. Baptism of Giuseppa Alessandro (1819). Liber Baptizatorum, [online] XVII (1819-1822). Available at: https://www.maltaparisharchives.org [Accessed 22 Dec. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Marriage registry held in the Collegiate and Parish Church of St. Paul Shipwrecked – Valletta, (1836). Wedding certificate for Angelica Alessandro and Paul Farrugia, 344-345.[↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Velin, N. (2024). Maltese baptisms – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/baptisms.html [Accessed 9 Dec. 2024].[↩]
5. Act of Marriage of Salvatore Bonnici and Emilia Farrugia. (1884). [online] (203). Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024][↩][↩][↩]
6. Note describing marriage of Paolo Farrugia and Angelica Alessandro. (1836). Liber Matrimoniorum, [online] XIV. Available at: https://www.maltaparisharchives.org/catalog [Accessed 8 Nov. 2024][↩]