There is more than one Giuseppe Borg in my family tree – this is the quintessential generic Maltese name, after all. It makes research harder because everything needs to be triple-checked. This Giuseppe ran a wine shop in Valletta next to the popular Victoria Gate.

He is one of my paternal great-grandfathers.

He was born at 06:00¹ on Wednesday 2 February 1887¹ in Valletta¹, son of Carmelo Borg¹ and Giovanna ¹ née Parteca².

His parents named him Giuseppe Salvatore Giorgio¹, indicating he should be known as Giuseppe¹. Carmelo declared his son’s birth with the government’s office the following week, on Wednesday 9 February¹.

Family

On Sunday 21 February 1909², he married Susanna Xuereb² in the parish church of Stella Maris, Sliema. Parish priest F V Manchè officiated at the wedding².

It’s interesting to see that while the formal declaration lists Susanna’s surname as “Scuereb”, the act in the government records declare her to be “Xuereb”. It is another case of English vs Italian phonetics used before there was a standardised way of writing Maltese names.

Together they had 7 children:

• Paolo³
• Emmanuele
• Maria Concetta
• Lucy
• Gina
• Dolly
• Anthony

Notable events

Profession

In 1908 he described himself as a “lavorante” (EN: Labourer, or worker)². By 1913, he described himself as a “Bottegajo” (EN: Shopkeeper, especially related to wine)³. By 1936 he was a merchant⁴.

He had a shop outside Victoria Gate in Valletta, and his name was still visible above the portal till the early 1980s. Victoria Gate was the prime entry point into the city for tradesmen and for the British Navy which would berth in the harbour. This made it one of the busiest parts of Valletta.

Amusingly, his family recorded his profession on his death certificate as Sagristano (EN: Sacristan)⁵ but there is neither an indication of which church he worked in, nor mention of whether this was a voluntary task or active employment.

Residence

He moved to Sliema before marriage². While he may have lived in more than 1 place in Sliema, his last known residence was 285 Prince of Wales road⁵. This was included in the 1920 electoral register⁶ as well.

Either way, he lived in Sliema for the rest of his life.

Death

He died of a cerebral haemorrhage⁵ at 04:30⁵ on Monday 28 September 1931⁵ at his home⁵ in Sliema, Malta⁵. His family buried him at the Maria Addolorata Cemetery, Paola, Malta⁵.

References

1. Act of birth of Giuseppe Borg. (1887). Available at: https://certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 28 Jan. 2025][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Act of marriage of Giuseppe Borg and Susanna Xuereb. (1909). Available at: https://certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 28 Jan. 2025][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Act of birth of Paolo Borg. (1913). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 28 Aug. 2024][↩][↩]
4. Act of marriage of Paul Borg and Mary Borg. (1936). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 4 Sep. 2024][↩]
5. Act of death of Giuseppe Borg. (1931). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: https://certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 5 Mar. 2025][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
6. Archive.org. (2025). Electoral register for Malta – 1920. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180723012719/http://website.lineone.net/~stephaniebidmead/1920.htm [Accessed 9 Feb. 2025][↩]