Parish church records in the south region of Malta

Abstract

Birth, marriage and death registrations in the public registry date back to the year 1863. Records prior to that year were drawn up by ecclesiastical authorities and can be found only in parish church archives. Thus baptismal, marriage and death certificates before 1863 can only be obtained rom the relative parishes in Malta and Gozo. The earliest records date from 1539 and are found at the Mdina Cathedral archives. Archives of the parishes of Malta and Gozo were microfilmed by the Malta Study Center, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. One can only find around 26 Maltese parish archives on the website and again, only some of them are updated till 1986. Records found in parish archives include birth, confirmation, marriage and death certificates also known as sacramental records. One may also find copies of service sheets for special services, copies of surveys of church attendance, photographs of special services, church events, clergy and congregation. This research, focusing on the sacramental records, examines the state of the archived records of the Parishes in the south region of Malta. The contents of this study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one gives a cursory look at the history of the Church and parish archives in Malta. Chapter two focuses on the records management best practices and a general literature review. Chapter three addresses the methodology use carry out the research. While Chapter four is a description and discussion of the data, that is the status of parish records of baptism, confirmation, marriage and death found in the twenty eight parishes.