FROM THE DEPOSITS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES ● 1 JOSEPH BEZZINA ENGAGEMENTS AND WEDDINGS IN GOZO PAST FROM THE DEPOSITS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Sponsored by 2 ● ENGAGEMENTS AND WEDDINGS IN GOZO PAST The exhibition delineates Engagements and Weddings in Gozo Past in two sections – each of which is made up of 24 items commemorating the 24 years of the NAG. The first consists of related documents; the second compliments the sources by a number of engravings and paintings related to the subject. This second section includes a full collection of the paintings depicting the Wedding of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Joseph and The Wedding at Cana in all Gozo Churches. © Text • Joseph Bezzina • 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, known or yet to be invented, for any purpose whatsoever, without the written permission of the National Archives (Gozo Section) and the author, which permission must be obtained beforehand. Acknowledgements • DR JOSEPH BEZZINA, Assistant National Archivist, wishes to thank Toni Calleja (Għasri), a former Archives Assistant, who came up with the idea of this exhibition and provided the references to many documents. • Special thanks are due to Charles J. Farrugia, the National Archivist; to Francesco Pio Attard, Paul Falzon, and MaryAnn Curmi, Archives Assistants at the National Archives (Gozo) for their unstinting help. • Thanks are also due to George Cassar, Officer-in-Charge, and to all the staff at the National Library (Gozo) – with which the National Archives shares the premises – for their collaboration throughout the whole year. • My appreciation for their collaboration also goes to John Cremona, Ministry for Gozo; Anthony Zammit, Director EcoGozo–Regional Development, who sponsored the prints; Maroma Camilleri, National Library of Malta; Kenneth Gambin, CEO Heritage Malta; Sandro Debono, Curator National Museum Fine Arts; Nicoline Sagona, Manager Gozo Museums and Sites; the Bishop of Gozo; the Cathedral Chapter, the archpriests, parish priests, and rectors of Għarb, Għasri, Qala, St George Parish, Ta’ Pinu, Ta’ Sannat, and Xagħra. • A word of appreciation is due especially to Mr Patrick Fenech, Branch Manager Victoria, HSBC • Gozo, whose support and sponsorship made possible the publication of this catalogue. Printed and bound in Malta PLAYPEN, Triq Taħt Putirjal, Victoria-Gozo. VCT 1346 (+356) 2156-1107 FROM THE DEPOSITS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES ● 3 JOSEPH BEZZINA ENGAGEMENTS AND MARRIAGES IN GOZO PAST FROM THE DEPOSITS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES ▪▪▪ GĦERUSIJIET U TIĠIJIET F’GĦAWDEX TAL-IMGĦODDI MID-DEPOŻITI FL-ARKIVJU NAZZJONALI CATALOGUE OF AN EXHIBITION HELD ON THE OCCASION OF THE TWENTY FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES GOZO SECTION (1989-2013) OPENED BY DR ANTON REFALO MINISTER FOR GOZO 29 NOVEMBER 2013 4 ● ENGAGEMENTS AND WEDDINGS IN GOZO PAST NATIONAL ARCHIVES (GOZO) EXHIBITION CATALOGUE • 13 1 • A sample of documents of the history of Gozo from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, Gozo 1989. 2 • A sample of documents of the history of Gozo from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, Gozo 1994. 3 • The Region of Gozo – Ir-Reġjonalità ta’ Għawdex, Gozo 2004. 4 • Gozo, a historical glimpse, Gozo 2005. 5 • Saverio Cassar (1805–2005), Gozo 2005. 6 • Religious aspects of life in Gozo, Gozo 2006. 7 • The Citadel – the crown of Gozo, Gozo 2007. 8 • The coastal defences of Gozo, Gozo 2008. 9 • Herbs, health, and hospitals of Gozo past, Gozo 2009. 10 • Gozo domestic architecture – a dwindling heritage, Gozo 2010. 11 • Fiftieth anniversary from the foundation of the Gozo Civic Council, Gozo 2011. 12 • Città Victoria – one hundred twenty five years a city, Gozo 2012. 13 • Engagements and Weddings in Gozo past, Gozo 2013. Some of the above catalogues are still available at the NAG•National Archives (Gozo) • tel: 21558833. A souvenir postcard (No 7) – available at the NAG•National Archives (Gozo) – has been issued for the occasion. Abbreviations ACG ARCHIVUM CATHEDRALE GAUDISIENSE AEG ARCHIVUM EPISCOPALE GAUDISENSE APS ARCHIVUM PAROECIALE SANNATENSE ASG ARCHIVUM PAROECIALE SANCTI GEORGII CG CURIA GUBERNATORIALI [COURTS OF GOZO] NAG NATIONAL ARCHIVES GOZO SECTION NAM NATIONAL LIBRARY MALTA NAV NOTARIAL ARCHIVES, VALLETTA-MALTA UG UNIVERSITAS GAUDISII FROM THE DEPOSITS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES ● 5 NAG • The National Archives (Gozo Section) The NAG – the National Archives (Gozo Section) – serves as the deposit for the records produced or received by Government entities in Gozo in the transaction of their affairs. It is housed in a purposely built hall adjacent to the Public Library of Gozo. The ball was set rolling on 1 August 1989, when the Ministry for Gozo engaged Joseph Bezzina, an archivist by profession, to set up the archives. The first documents to be moved in were the registers of the former Universitas Gaudisii – a regional government founded around 1350 to manage the island and defend local interests. Only 260 registers, dating from 1560 to its suppression in 1818, are still preserved. The NAG was officially inaugurated on 24 November 1989 – twenty four years ago – by Dr Ugo Mifsud-Bonnici, then Minister of Education, and Anton Tabone, then Minister for Gozo. This was over two months before the Malta Parliament, on 30 January 1990, enacted the Act to regulate the National Archives. The NAG was conceived as the public record office for the documentation produced and received by past and present Government departments and establishments in the islands of Gozo and Comino. In 1991, the Staff Development Organisation of the Office of the Prime Minister clearly laid down that “Records originated by the Ministry for Gozo, Gozo sections of government departments, and by public bodies established for Gozo should be deposited at the Gozo Section of the National Archives which has been set up adjoining the Gozo Public Library” (Circular OPM/E/82/83 [July 1991]). The NAG has twenty-seven different FONDS, deposits coming from an equal number of entities. Each fond is divided into as many SECTIONS as is deemed necessary to reflect the various responsibilities or activities of the entity. It is possible 6 ● ENGAGEMENTS AND WEDDINGS IN GOZO PAST that a particular single office produced records related to various activities. In that case each activity is considered a separate section and numbered accordingly to avoid the splitting of sections into sub-sections. Every single ITEM in each section is given a consecutive number. The fonds in the alphabetical order of the cataloguing code with the period covered are the following: AG National Archives (Gozo Section) 1989+ CA Civil Abattoir 1891 – 1986 CC Civic Council 1959 – 1973 CG Curia Gubernatorali (Courts of Law) 1609+ CI Charitable Institutions 1859 – 1947 CP Circulars and Posters 1814+ DF Documentaries and Films 1988+ GB Malta Government Savings Bank 1853 – 1978 GL Ġurdan Lighthouse 1877 – 1981 GM Ġuljana Masini 1554 – 1930 HI Hospitals and other Institutions 1841+ IR Inland Revenue 1903+ LC Local Councils 1993+ MG Ministry for Gozo 1987+ MH Medical and Health Department 1875 – 1970 MP Monte di Pietà 1817 – 1979 PA Photographs. Albums 1945+ PD Police Departments 1889+ PM Plans and maps 1860+ PO Passport Office 1988+ PW Public Works 1840+ SG Secretariat to the Government 1803+ SN Street naming 1987+ SS State Schools 1845+ ST Statistics 1667+ UG Universitas Gaudisii 1560 – 1819 ZM Miscellanea 1575+ Records are catalogued in a four-level system – a system that most clearly reflects the workings of each entity. Level 1 is the depository (NAG); level 2, the fond or entity (UG); level 3, the section (section 1 in this fond or entity, being Acta et Negotia); and level 4, the single item (for example, volume 1). FROM THE DEPOSITS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES ● 7 ENGAGEMENT AND WEDDINGS IN GOZO PAST A love story in bygone years often began with the planting of a pleasant smelling shrub in a flower pot. A mother who had a marriageable daughter planted and tended with care a plant of ħabaq, or merqtux, or nagħnigħ; basil, or sweet marjoram, or spearmint. When the plant matured and filled the air with its sweet smell, she placed it on the ħarrieġa, a stone jutting out about a span from the wall of a house beside a window, to attract the attention of marriageable young men. Marriage customs vary greatly from one culture to another, but the importance of the institution is universally acknowledged. In some societies, community interests in the children, in the bonds between families, and in the ownership of property established by a marriage are such that special devices and customs are created to protect these values. Wedding day itself is the most important event in the life of many people. Customs related to the ritual vary greatly, but it is everywhere celebrated with some pomp. This was even so in the past when cash and capital were not as readily available. Besides a sweet smelling plant, some parents of the bride-to-be also placed a dussies on the window sill. This spindle used in weaving cotton conveyed a clear message to the bridegroom-to-be: the young woman is a hardworking person who will never fail to do her part in the upbringing of the family. The young men who were attracted by the plant and the proposal it conveyed did not approach the father in person. Instead they sought the services of a ħuttab or ħuttaba, a marriage broker. A very successful broker at Victoria, Gozo, was Ġanni x-Xuxi (Grech), but there were others of both sexes. He or she would meet the father of the bride-to-be and convey to him the list of those interested in his daughter together with vital information on their families and background. At this 8 ● ENGAGEMENTS AND WEDDINGS IN GOZO PAST point, the broker could play a most decisive role, for he could extol someone to the detriment of the other.