Little is documented about Giuseppe d’Armenia except that he was a judge, and married 4 times.
He is my 7 x great-grandfather.
He was born, perhaps in Senglea, Malta, towards the end of the 17th century, son of Grazio Leonardo d’Armenia and Petronilla (or Patricia) Caugialanza1. His father is sometimes listed as ‘Leonardo’ and his mother is sometimes listed as Petrisa2.
Titles
Giuseppe d’Armenia was a judge in Malta.
Family
In 1685 he married Vincenza de Noto and they had 1 son3:
- Francesco
In 1709, Giuseppe married Teresa Zammit in Mdina3. I don’t know why he remarried, but the most likely cause is the death of his first wife. He and Teresa were childless3.
In 1714, he married Gaetana Tonna. Together they had three children3:
- Felice Antonio
- Pietro
- Maria
On Monday 24 August 1716 he married Diana Foti in Valletta4, daughter of Giorgio and Gaetana4 in the Oratory of Our Lady of Charity, adjacent to the main nave in St Paul’s Shipwreck church4 in Valletta, Malta. The Reverend Joseph Gucciaro officiated4.
The two-year gap between his third and fourth wife is unusual, especially since he had 3 children. It’s possible two of the siblings are twins, however I have no evidence of this.
With Diana he had 5 children3 5:
- Giorgio
- Francesco Saverio, baptised on 01/02/1722 at St Paul’s.
- Anna Maria Domenica Constanza, baptised on 01/11/1725 at St Paul’s.
- Carlo Pietro Giorgio, baptised on 01/09/1728 at St Paul’s.
The online databases I’ve consulted don’t mention a child called Giorgio. It is possible that Carlo Pietro Giorgio was known as Giorgio because this sometimes happens. I will verify this once I get access to the relevant certificates, rather than the online database I’ve currently used.
It’s not clear why there’s such a large gap between their date of marriage and the baptisms of their children. While a six-year gap is not unusual, I will verify these dates once I get access to the relevant certificates, rather than the online databases I’ve currently used.
Notable events
The church certificate for his wedding to Diana4 clearly shows his name spelled as “Darmenia” and not “d’Armenia”. This is the earliest recorded case of the name being spelled this way.
Death
He died in 17343, but we don’t know where, why or where his final resting place is.
References
- Wedding certificate for Joseph Darmenia and Patricia Darmenia. (1716). 32[↩]
- Maltese Baptisms. (n.d.). Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/baptisms.html# [Accessed 17 Jul. 2024] [↩]
- The Royal Descendants of de Lusignan and the Barony of Baccari and Benwarrad; Malta Libro d’Oro; Retrieved 2018-04-23[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Wedding certificate for Joseph Darmenia and Diana Foti. (1716). 32[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Maltese Baptisms. (n.d.). Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/baptisms.html# [Accessed 17 Jul. 2024] [↩]
