Ludgarda was born in Floriana before it was a parish in its own right, and moved to Sliema before that was a parish in its own right. She saw Malta evolve and gain new parishes, and towns.

She is one of my maternal great-great-grandmothers.

Ludgarda, or Ludcarda, was born on Monday 30 March 1840¹. She was the daughter of Salvatore Cremona¹ and Concetta Debono¹.

Her parents baptised her the day after¹ in St Paul’s Shipwreck collegiate church¹ in Valletta, as Luitgardis Ersilia Lara Leonida Sophia Gratia Vincentia¹. Father Thomas Psaila baptized her¹.

Family

She married Giovanni Battista Felice², on Sunday 11 September 1859³ in Floriana^{3 4}.

Together they had 6 children⁴:

• Giuseppe
• Antonio
• Paolo
• Maria
• Rosaria
• Maria Concetta

Notable events

Her son’s birth certificate states he was born in Sliema, but his wedding certificate states he was born in Birkirkara. This is not an inconsistency because Sliema was not an established town yet, and still part of Birkirkara. It is clear that the record keeping policy changed between his birth and marriage.

From her son’s data, I can conclude that Ludgarda moved from Floriana to Sliema⁵. She later moved to Valletta⁶ and lived at Strada Marsamxetto 86⁶.

Inconsistencies

While her birth name is Ludgarda, her marriage and her death certificate list her as Riccarda^{7 6}. I conclude that Ludgarda is her formal Italianised name, while she was known as Riccarda throughout her life.

Death

She died at 09:30⁶ on Thursday 18 July 1912⁶ of apoplexy⁶. She died at home in Valletta, Malta⁶. Her family buried her at the Maria Addolorata cemetery in Paola⁶.

References

1. Certificate of Baptism of Ludgarda Cremona. (1840). Baptism Records Held in the Collegiate and Parish Church of St Paul Shipwrecked, Valletta, p.579[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Act of death of Giobattista Felice. (1891). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 02 Dec. 2024][↩]
3. Velin, N. (2024). Maltese baptisms – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/marriages.html[↩][↩]
4. Charles Vassallo (2024). Felici – Maltagenealogy. [online] Maltagenealogy. Available at: https://maltagenealogy.com/felici/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2024][↩][↩]
5. Act of birth of Giuseppe Felice. (1871). (2639) Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 2024] [↩]
6. Act of death of Ludcarda Cremona. (1912). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 02 Apr. 2025][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
7. Velin, N. (2024). Maltese marriages – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/marriages.html[↩]