As the Imperial government’s Attorney General, Emmanuele must have been influential in 19th century Maltese society.

He is one of my maternal 3 x great-grandfathers.

I estimate Emanuele’s date of birth between 1820 and 1830 because he married in the 1850s¹. It is probable he was born in Valletta, which is where his parents were from. He is the son of Isidoro Farrugia and Giovanna Lebrun^{1 2}.

Emmanuele styled his surname as Farrugia Gay. Official documentation lists him as “Farrugia” so that is the convention I use here. He certainly did use the double-barrelled surname because one court case he was involved in (see below) refers to him in this fashion.

Family

He married Annetta Zarb³, on Wednesday 18 November 1851² at the church of Our Lady of Safe Haven, Valletta².

Together they had seven children I know of¹:

• Giovanni³
• Fillippo, who became a medical doctor⁴.
• Giuseppa
• Guglielmo
• Victor Hugo, who became an electrician⁴.
• Gio Battista
• George

Notable events

He lived in Valletta around the mid-1850s because that is where his son was born³.

His son described him as a Procuratore Legale³ (EN: Attorney General).

Case law

On 3 May 1921, a seminal case concluded in Malta’s civil court. The court case was between Giovanni Farrugia Gay and Emmanuele Farrugia Gay. It’s possible the latter refers to Giovanni’s son, named after his grandfather.

This case is now used as a reference point to show that if someone tricks someone else into signing a contract, the contract is null and void⁵

Death

He was still alive in 1886, when his granddaughter was born⁶.

References

1. Charles Said-Vassallo (2019). ArabSicilyMalta-Farrugia – Maltagenealogy. [online] Maltagenealogy. Available at: https://maltagenealogy.com/arabsicilymalta-farrugia/[↩][↩][↩]
2. Velin, N. (2024). Marriages in Malta – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/marriages.html#rowNum=50 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2024].[↩][↩][↩]
3. Act of marriage of Giovanni Farrugia and Grazia Balzan. (1884). [online] (948). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Velin, N. (2021). Passports in Malte – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/passports.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2024][↩][↩]
5. Philip u Pauline konjugi Borg Cardona Vs Is-socjeta’ EFW Limited, Raphael Farugia u Elizabeth Farrugia Wismayer [2006] 96/2004 (Qorti Civili Prim’Awla ONOR. Imhallef Geoffrey Valenzia) Available at: https://www.ecourts.gov.mt [Accessed 31 Oct. 2024][↩]
6. Act of birth of Florentina Farrugia; Malta Government state records; 1886-10-14[↩]