Giuseppe was never registered in government records, showing how lax enforcement of the rules were at the time. He lived all his life in rural Attard, Malta.

He is one of my paternal great-grandfathers.

He was born in either:

• 1867 or 1868 because he was 81 when he died in 1949¹
• 1868 or 1869 because he was 34 when he married in 1903².
• 1870 or 1871 because he was 45 when his daughter was born in 1916³.

While national records go back to 1863, staff at the public registry confirmed there is no record of his birth. This can mean one of two things:

• He was born before 1863.
• His birth was never registered with the state authorities. This is not uncommon, especially for rural communities.

He was born in Attard², son of Giovanni Borg and Anna Sciberras².

Family

On Sunday 2 August 1903², he married Giuseppa Attard² in the Roman Catholic parish church of Attard². Parish priest Fr Carmelo Azzopardi officiated at the wedding².

Together they had 5 children⁴:

• Maria
• Grazia
• Emmanuele
• Carmelo
• Luigi

Notable events

Occupation

Between 1903² and 1916, he described himself as an Agricoltore³ (EN: Farmer). Since he lived in Attard at the time, and since his father also was a farmer², it’s possible he tended family land in or around Attard.

In 1936, he described himself as a garage owner⁵.

The change in declared profession is curious. It’s clear he thought being a garage owner was his prime occupation, or source of income. Whether this was as well as, or instead of, being a farmer is not clear.

Having said that, his family declared him to be a ‘Farm Labourer’ on his death certificate¹.

Other

While he declared his daughter’s birth to the government, he was illiterate and could not fill out the forms himself³.

Residence

He lived in Attard all his life. In his later years, he lived at 38, Qormi Road, Attard¹.

Death

He outlived his wife by almost 4 years.

He died at 19:00¹ on Friday 6 May 1949¹ at home in Attard¹. He died of heart failure¹.

His family buried him in the Attard parish cemetery¹.

References

1. Act of death of Giuseppe Borg. (1949). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 1 Oct. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Act of marriage of Giuseppa Attard and Giuseppe Borg. (1903). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 1 Oct. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Act of birth of Maria Borg. (1916). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 1 Oct. 2024][↩][↩][↩]
4. C Said-Vassallo (2018). Borg – Malta Genealogy. [online] Malta Genealogy. Available at: https://maltagenealogy.com/borg/ [Accessed 20 Dec. 2024].[↩]
5. Act of marriage of Paul Borg and Mary Borg. (1936). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 4 Sep. 2024][↩]