Giovanni lived in 19th century rural Malta. There is little practical information about him, but his marriage to a Żebbug-born lady reflects the close connection these two villages have always had.

He was one of my paternal 3 x great-grandfathers.

He was born on Saturday 15 November 1800¹ in Attard², Malta. He was the son of Antonio Xiberras³ and his wife Anna⁴ The day after⁵, Fr Gaetano Buttigieg⁶ baptised him in the village parish church⁷ as Joannes Joseph Gregoriy⁸.

Family

On Monday 16 February 1829, he married Maria Magro⁹ in the parish church of St Philip of Agrippa in Zebbug.

Together they had one child I’m aware of:

• Anna

Notable events

In 1800, during the French occupation, he was briefly a French citizen.

As far as I can tell, he lived his whole life in Attard.

Death

I have no information about Giovanni’s death, but it’s probable he died in the second half of the 19th century. It’s likely he died in Attard and, if so, he would have been buried in the Attard church as was custom.

References

1. Certificate of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Baptism Records Held by the Roman Catholic Parish of H’Attard.[↩]
2. Certificate of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Baptism Records Held by the Roman Catholic Parish of H’Attard.[↩]
3. Certificate of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Baptism Records Held by the Roman Catholic Parish of H’Attard.[↩]
4. Certificate of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Baptism Records Held by the Roman Catholic Parish of H’Attard.[↩]
5. Certificate of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Baptism Records Held by the Roman Catholic Parish of H’Attard.[↩]
6. Certificate of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Baptism Records Held by the Roman Catholic Parish of H’Attard.[↩]
7. Certificate of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Baptism Records Held by the Roman Catholic Parish of H’Attard.[↩]
8. Extract of Baptism of Giovanni Xiberras. (1800). Liber Baptizatorum 1755 – 1836, [online] 5. Available at: https://www.maltaparisharchives.org [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025][↩]
9. Velin, N. (2024b). Marriages in Malta – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/marriages.html[↩]

Family Tree