Seeing Malta transition from a possession of the Knights of St John, to being under Napoleon, to being a British colony must have been impressive. Vincenzo lived through all this.

He is one of my maternal 4 x great-grandfathers.

He was born on Sunday 19 April 1789¹. He was born in Żebbug, Malta^{1 2}, son of Giovanni Bonnici and Maria, whose maiden name is unrecorded^{1 2} in both state and church records. His parents christened him Vincenzo Filippo Pietro¹.

Family

On Tuesday 15 November 1814 he married Catherina Cassar³ in Senglea³.

Together they had one child I know of:

• Girolamo⁴

Notable events

He worked as a merchant² but I don’t know what he traded in.

Residence

Apart from Zebbug, he lived in Valletta for most of his life because his son was born there⁵, and he later died there². His last recorded address is 69 Merchant’s Street, Valletta⁶.

There is a reference to a 2-year old Vincenzo Bonnici living in Floriana in 1792⁷. It’s hard to say if this is him or not, but there is a reference to a 35-year old Giovanni Bonnici, who could have been his father.

Death

He died at 09:00² on Sunday 23 June 1878². He died of chronic gastritis at home in Valletta². His family buried him in the Maria Addolorata Cemetery, Paola, Malta².

References

1. Extract of Baptism of Vincenzo Bonnici. (1798). Liber Baptizatorum 1787 – 1804, [online] VIII. Available at: www.maltaparisharchives.org [Accessed 6 Mar. 2025][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Act of death of Vincenzo Bonnici. (1898). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 16 Sep. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Record of Marriage of Vincenzo Bonnici and Catherina Cassar. Vol. 4, 15 Nov. 1814. Liber Matrimonionum, www.maltaparisharchives.org. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025[↩][↩]
4. Certificate of marriage of Girolamo Bonnici and Vincenza Portelli. (1856). Registers kept at Porto Salvo and Saint Dominic parish church, Valletta, Malta, 1837-1859, p.379[↩]
5. Act of Birth of Salvatore Bonnici. (1864). [online] (2322). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024][↩]
6. Act of death of Vincenzo Bonnici. (1898). Malta Government Public Registry. [online] Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 16 Sep. 2024][↩]
7. Velin, N. (2023). Census in Malta – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/census.html [Accessed 6 Mar. 2025][↩]