Girolamo was part of the 19th century migration out of Valletta to the (at the time) calmer village of St Julian’s. He loved Valletta enough to move back later on in life.

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

Girolamo, Italianised as Hieronimo¹, was born in 1817 or 1818 or 1821 or 1822 because:

• He declared he was 42 when his son was born in 1864².
• His family declared him as being 80 when he died in 1898³.

He was born in Valletta, Malta⁴. He is the son of Vincenzo Bonnici⁴, and Catherina Cassar⁴.

Family

On Tuesday 24 June 1856⁴, he married Vincenza Portelli⁴ in the Oratory of the Blessed Sacrament, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Safe Haven, Valletta, Malta⁴. Fr Salvatore Pace officiated at the wedding⁴.

Together they had four children I’m aware of⁵:

• Carmelo Paolo Maria Salvatore Vincenzo Antonio Emanuele Giovanni
• Carmelo Lorenzo Giuseppe Maria Salvatore Antonio Vincenzo Paolo
• Paolo Carmelo Francesco Antonio Giuseppe
• Salvatore^{1 2}

Notable events

He was a commercial trader by profession^{2 6}.

He lived in different places:

• In 1860, he was listed on the electoral register as living at 8 Strada Felice, Valletta⁷
• In 1870, he was still at that address⁸.
• In 1880, his address changed to 69, Strada Mercanti, Valletta⁹.
• He may have moved his family to St Julian’s by 1884, when his son married⁶.

By the time of his death, he was living at 59 St Patrick’s Street, Valletta³.

Death

He died at 03:30³ on Tuesday 29 March 1898³ at home in Valletta, Malta³. He died of old age and was senile towards the end³. His family buried him in the Maria Addolorata cemetery, Paola, Malta³.

References

1. Baptism certificate for Salvatore Bonnici. (1864). 345[↩][↩]
2. Act of Birth of Salvatore Bonnici. (1864). [online] (2322). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024][↩][↩][↩]
3. Act of death of Girolamo Bonnici. (1898). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 16 Sep. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Certificate of marriage of Girolamo Bonnici and Vincenza Portelli. (1856). Registers kept at Porto Salvo and Saint Dominic parish church, Valletta, Malta, 1837-1859, p.379[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
5. Velin, N. (2024). Baptisms in Malta – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/baptisms[↩]
6. Act of Marriage of Salvatore Bonnici and Emilia Farrugia. (1884). [online] (203). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024][↩][↩]
7. Malta Family History (2025). Voters 1860. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180722215148/http://website.lineone.net/~remosliema/voters1860.htm [Accessed 26 Jan. 2025][↩]
8. Malta Family History (2025). Voters 1870. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180722215148/http://website.lineone.net/~remosliema/voters1870.htm [Accessed 26 Jan. 2025][↩]
9. Malta Family History (2025). Voters 1880. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180722215148/http://website.lineone.net/~remosliema/voters1880.htm [Accessed 26 Jan. 2025][↩]