Naxxar : a study in local history since 1800

Abstract

Having been related to Naxxar for a long time, the prospect of writing a dissertation on this village provided me a challenge which I could not reject, which I undertook enthusiastically for the sake of personal knowledge. Considering the fact that very little has been written about Naxxar during the British period, the aim of this dissertation is to outline the main characteristics of Naxxar which evolved from a small introverted self-centred village into a fairly populated town which incorporates people from all over Malta in the last two centuries. When compiling this dissertation, I made use of unpublished primary sources such as the Status Animarum, personal diaries and other information found in the parish archives and also school registers which are held in the Primary School premises. Additionally, I also made use of published primary sources such as the Censuses, the Malta Blue Books, the Government Gazette, Government Department Reports, Annual Abstract of Statistics, Electoral registers and Reports on the General Elections together with a variety of local and national newspapers. Indeed, the data from these sources is indicative of the development that took place within the village. Unfortunately, no official censuses were compiled during the first half of the nineteenth century. However, for this period, the parish archives provide more than a suitable alternative source, to make good for the lack of data. Censuses are limited as they only assemble quantitative data which is very useful as it is indicative of the economic situation of the village. One must point out that the data gathered in the censuses of 1881 and 1891 is based on a district level and thus causing slight inconsistencies. However, this information gives the regional perspective since Naxxar is grouped with the surrounding villages namely Mellieha, Mosta and Gharghur which once formed part of Naxxar. Similarly, secondary sources were priceless in my research as they provided the data which filled the gaps left by shortcomings in the primary sources. Several books published by local historians and also by established academics proved to be quite valuable to give a picture of the general context to which Naxxar belonged. Indeed, local magazines and newspapers, which held researches and interviews with local people, were also very useful to give a picture of the local situation. These publications, along with primary sources, provided a suitable framework on which I could built my dissertation and were very helpful to provide a clear picture to compile a study on the social history of Naxxar for the nineteenth and twentieth century.