Having moved from the hustle and bustle of Valletta, Salvatore saw St Julian’s grow from a summer village to a town in its own right.

He is one of my maternal great-great-grandfathers.

He was born at 13:00¹ on Thursday 16 July 1864^{1 2} in Valletta, Malta^{1 2 3}, son of Girolamo Bonnici and Vincenza née Portelli^{1 2}.

His parents christened him as Salvatore Carmelo Maria Felice¹. They baptized him the day after² as Salvatore Carmelo Maria Raphael Felix Antonio Fedele Paolo Vincenzo in St Paul’s Collegiate church, Valletta^{2 3}.

Family

On Wednesday 20 February 1884^{4 3}, he married Emilia Farrugia^{4 3} in the vice-parish church of St Julian’s^{4 3}. Reverend Don Giuseppe Scerri officiated the ceremony^{4 3}.

Since St Julian’s wasn’t an actual parish at the time, the wedding records come from the parish of St Helen’s, Birkirkara.

St Julian’s had 50 families in the mid 19th century, when the bishop elevated it to a vice-parish⁵. Don Scerri was the village’s first vice-parish priest⁵.

Together they had 2 children I’m aware of:

• Paolina in 1886⁶
• Giovanni⁷

Notable events

Salvatore was a commercial trader by profession⁴. By the time his daughter married, he described himself as a clerk. On his death certificate, he’s listed as a retired merchant⁸.

Change in residence

He moved to St Julian’s at some point⁴, before marriage. His son Giovanni was born in Birkirkara⁷, but only because St Julian’s had no parish of its own at the time.

His death certificate shows he was living in “Gzira, Sliema” suggesting he lived on the border of these localities⁸. It is probable that he hadn’t moved, but the shifting borders of the locality changed his official details.

Death

He died at 16:00⁸ on Saturday 16 March 1935⁸ of heart failure⁸ at the central civic hospital in Floriana, Malta⁸.

His family buried him at the Addolorata cemetery, Paola, Malta⁸.

References

1. Act of Birth of Salvatore Bonnici. (1864). [online] (2322). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Baptism certificate for Salvatore Bonnici. (1864). 345[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Marriage Certificate of Salvatore Bonnici and Emilia Farrugia. Vol. 10, 20 Feb. 1884, p. 376. Records of St Helen’s Parish, Birkirkara, Malta[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Act of Marriage of Salvatore Bonnici and Emilia Farrugia. (1884). [online] (203). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
5. Parroċċa San Ġiljan | “Duqu u taraw kemm hu tajjeb il-Mulej”. (2014). Storja | Parroċċa San Ġiljan. [online] Available at: https://www.stjuliansparish.org/storja/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2024][↩][↩]
6. Act of Birth of Paolina Bonnici. (1886). [online] (1728). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 12 Jul. 2024][↩]
7. Act of Marriage of Paolo Darmenia and Paolina Bonnici. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩][↩]
8. Act of death of Salvatore Bonnici. (1935). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 4 Sep. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]