Malta Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Malta, go to the Religious Records page.

Church registers are the primary source of birth, marriage, and death information in Malta before the beginning of civil registration in 1863. They identify names of parents, prove other relationships, and are very useful for linking generations.

The Adami Collection

 * The Adami Collection on Microfilm
 * The Adami Collection is a transcription of parrochial records from the Maltese Islands (Malta and Gozo) that includes marriages, a few baptisms from one parish, marriage legacies or contracts, family trees, ecclesiastical benefices, notarial acts, and miscellaneous notes.
 * Marriages are arranged by parish. In the records, the saint's name is written in Italian as is the town name. In this catalog the saint's name is written in English, followed by the Italian name in parentheses. The names of the towns are written in English followed by alternate spellings from the Italian and Maltese languages. For most of the towns on the island of Gozo, no saints' names were given.
 * Marriage contracts (schede matrimoniali) form a record that resembles an index. They include the names of the bride and groom and both sets of parents, the contract date, and the parishes where the bride and groom lived.
 * Marriage legacies (legati di maritaggio) were given to the church by the wealthy to endow poor brides with enough money to help defray the costs of the marriage and setting up a household. These legacies usually were given to family members, who had to prove relationship to those who provided the legacy. Consequently, in the legacy records family trees showing relationship from provider to the bride are shown. They are arranged in alphabetical order by the surname of the person providing the marriage legacy.
 * Family trees are arranged in no discernable way and they date from the 1500s to the 1800s. Most of the dates that appear are marriage dates and it appears that many of these family trees also had something to do with marriage legacies. They were used to confirm consanguinity in order for a bride to claim a marriage legacy. In later records, rather than a family tree, there are tables of names of those claiming legacies.
 * Notarial records include wills, codicils, legacies, donations, sales, etc. On the first film containing notarial records, they are arranged in alphabetical order by the surname of the family and then by the name of the notary who drew up the papers for each act. In this catalog, the name of each notary is given along with the dates of his service. It may be necessary to check each notary to locate all of a family's records. In the large set of notarial acts, the records are arranged by family name.
 * Benefices involve the endowment of land and/or property to the church to be used by the church but to actually remain legally in the hands of the "donor". The descendants of the original donors were given first preference over the land and property. Decendancy charts are included.

Roman Catholic
Record type: Christenings, marriages, and burials.

Time period: 1537 to present.

Contents: Baptisms – names of individuals, dates of birth and baptism, names of parents, names of godparents. Marriages – names of groom and bride, dates and places of marriage, ages of groom and bride, their residences and sometimes their birthplaces. Burials – names of the deceased, dates and places of death and burial, age at time of death, marital status, cause of death, name of spouse, and so forth. Status Animarum – this survey of the spiritual status of the parish population lists names of parish inhabitants, ages, and residence.

Location: Recent registers are kept at local parish churches. Older registers may be at the Cathedral Museum, Archbishop Square, Mdina on Gozo; at the Archbishop’s Curia, St. Calcedonius Square, Floriana, Malta; or at the National Library by Republic Square in Valletta, Malta.

Population coverage: Historically, 95% or more of the population was Catholic. Actual coverage would be less in the 1500s and 1600s.

Anglican
Record type: Christenings, marriages, and burials.

Time period: 1801 to present.

Contents: Baptisms – names of individuals, dates of birth and baptism, names of parents, names of godparents. Marriages – names of groom and bride, dates and places of marriage, ages of groom and bride, their residences and sometimes their birthplaces. Burials – names of the deceased, dates and places of death and burial, age at time of death, marital status, cause of death, name of spouse, and so forth.

Location: The originals are at the Anglican chaplancy of Sliema, Malta and the chaplancy of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Valletta, Malta. Transcripts of many records are in the possession of the Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London, England. Some transcripts (1806-1814) are at the Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London; these may have been moved to the Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London within the past few years.

Population coverage: In the 1800s and early 1900s about 5% of the population was Anglican.

Marriage Compilations
Research use: These compilations of marriage records should simplify research by making marriage information more easily accessible. Marriages are a key genealogical source as they provide a bridge between generations and often provide many details that make it possible to link one generation to another.

Record type: Compilations of marriage information taken from the original marriage sections of the church books.

Time period: About 1540 to probably about 1900.

Contents: Would provide names of brides and grooms, dates of marriage, and so forth. No specific information is known about these compilations.

Location: There are four sets of marriage compilations in private collections in Malta.

Population coverage: Probably 70% or more.

Websites

 * Diocese of Gozo
 * The Church in Malta - Archives of the Archbishop of Malta