Paolo Darmenia

Paolo Darmenia worked with the British Forces at their arsenal in Malta. Valletta-born, he also lived in Cospicua, St Julian’s, Sliema and Balzan.

He is one of my maternal great-grandfathers.

Paolo, or Paul, was born at 09:00 on Monday 9 November 1885 in Valletta, Malta, son of Emmanuele Darmenia and Rosina née Grech¹ ². They named him after his grandfather and gave him three further names – Salvatore, Domenico, Edgardo² ¹.

His parents baptised him the next day in the Basilica of Porto Salvo and St Dominic³. Fr Thomas Paul Zarb baptised the young Paolo³.

Emmanuele registered his son’s birth 3 days later on Thursday 12 November 1885². The act of birth entered the state registry on Saturday 14 November².

Family

On Tuesday 25 November 1913 he married Paolina Bonnici from St Julian’s⁴ ⁵. They were both living in Cospicua at the time of marriage⁵.

They both chose their own brothers as witnesses for the wedding. Paolo chose his 21-year-old brother Giuseppe, or Joseph, while Paolina chose her 22-year-old brother Giovanni, or John⁴ ⁵.

A photo of the Church of our Lady of Divine Grace - Sliema, Malta — *The Church of our Lady of Divine Grace – Sliema, Malta*

State records show they married in the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Mercy in Sliema⁵, but the church’s records say they married in the then newly-built parish church of Stella Maris⁶. The Reverend Amadeo Bonello conducted the ceremony⁶ ⁵. This is unusual because this chapel was not meant to be in use in 1913.

I’ve written about the history of this chapel. Since Sliema had a parish church in 1913 the authorities meant to use the chapel for storage rather than religious activities. State records for Paolo’s wedding suggests this is not the case.

When I went to check the Church’s record of Paul’s marriage, the priest in the parish office consulted page 320 of register #2. He noted that Paul and Pauline’s marriage took place in ‘The parish of Stella Maris’. This is ambiguous since the statement suggests that the wedding took place in the parish church but does not state this. He and I discussed this at length but he had no further information to shed on this matter, except to add that Fr Bonello filled in the register himself.

A photo of Paolo Darmenia — *Paolo Darmenia – Aged 14 (7th July 1900)*

They registered the marriage on Tuesday 01 December, and it entered the state records immediately⁵.

Together they had the following children:

Antonio (known as Antoine) ⁷
Annie, born in 1917.
Victor
John
Mary
Josephine, known as Josie, who emigrated to Sydney, Australia.

Notable events

On 06 July 1927, he applied for a passport to travel to Italy, France and Tunis⁸. He registered his residence as Hamrun⁸ at this point.

Employment history

Paolo worked his whole life with the British forces:

By the time he got married in 1913, Paolo was working at the British arsenal but I don’t know how long he’d been there by then. His marriage certificate⁵ states his profession as impiegato all’arsenale (EN: Employed by the arsenal) so we don’t know what he did, other than to know he was employed there.
On 9 April 1926, a notice in the Edinburgh Gazette lists him as a Painter with his Majesty’s Dockyard⁹. The notice explains that Paolo received a promotion “without competition” as of 5 March of the same year⁹.
In 1927, he described himself as a Chargeman with His Majesty’s Dockyard⁸. This meant he was in charge of others but we can’t say of whom or of what.
In 1937, his son married and he described himself as a supervisor¹⁰. It’s hard to tell if this is different to “chargeman” or not as I am unfamiliar with the hierarchy and nomenclature at His Majesty’s Dockyard.
By the time of his death in 1943, he was an Inspector of Painters at His Majesty’s Dockyard¹¹ ¹², which is another way of stating ‘supervisor’. Indeed, in a note for a requiem mass published a year after his death, he’s described as a ‘Supervisor of Painters'¹³.

While it is hard to infer that his role kept improving, the job titles are relevant in any civil service and this leads me to conclude he worked his way up at HM Dockyards.

It is also logical to conclude that Paolo was fluent in English to have spent all his life working with the British forces.

Residence

Paolo’s parents moved to Cospicua at some point⁵ but I don’t know when or why.

A copy of the reverse of Paolo Darmenia's photo — *The reverse of Paolo Darmenia’s photo*

By April 1915 he moved his family to Sliema⁷. I know this was between November 1913 (when he married) and April 1915 (when his eldest was born). I don’t know whereabouts in Sliema they lived.

It is possible the family had moved to St Julians by 1937 since his son, Antoine, listed St Julians as his home when he married in 1937¹⁰. In Malta, people didn’t leave home till they got married, so this is a reasonable conclusion. Yet, I have found no evidence to back this conclusion up so far.

Death

He died at 15:30 on Wednesday 08 September 1943 of typhoid fever at his temporary home¹² ¹⁴ at 127, High Street, Balzan¹¹. This was his son’s, Antonio’s, home in Balzan.

Typhoid fever is a form of salmonella. If you drink unpurified water, or eat unwashed fruit and vegetables, you can catch typhoid fever. It’s not surprising this happened during the war, when fresh water would have been hard to come by. It is not clear if Anthony took his father in to care for him while sick of typhoid, or if Paolo contracted the disease while living there. Since Anthony was a pharmacist by profession, and aware of the importance of hygiene, it is reasonable to conclude Paolo was already sick when he moved to Balzan.

They registered his death in the neighbouring village of Lija on Friday 10 September¹¹. The authorities entered this into the state records on Tuesday 28 September¹¹. It is likely that the delay was because of World War II.

On Monday 13 September, The Times of Malta carried his obituary¹², naming him as Paul Darmenia, rather than Paolo. On Sunday 03 October, the family published a note in the Times of Malta thanking all those who expressed sympathy at his death¹⁵

His family buried him at the Addolorata Cemetery in Marsa¹¹ ¹⁴.

On Friday 08 September 1944, the Times notified the public of a mass for the repose of the soul of Paul Darmenia¹³. This was at the Carmelite church in St Julian’s at 07:30 am on Saturday 09 September 1944¹³.