Malta and the Crimean War (1854-1856)

Abstract

I chose to deal with Malta during the Crimean War mainly because it has been neglected by writers of Maltese history. On one hand, although historians have treated the strategic outcome the experience during 1854--1856 had on Malta, and have considered the fact that after the war British military and naval expenditure in Malta was increased, yet the exposition of the role Malta played during these two years – which contributed a lot to this increase - is lacking. Secondly, those who tackled the economic aspect of the Maltese experience have led us to believe that the war brought prosperity to the island at the expense of leaving out anything which proved the contrary. Added to this, a very important aspect of the event, namely the social implication, has been ruefully left unexplored. Respective to these preliminary motivations this thesis is divided into two parts. Part One deals with the manner in which Malta performed its role as a British base during the Crimean War. Part Two is an exposition of some economic and social aspects within the island. For Part One the material used comprise mainly despatches, circulars, letters and reports which deal directly with the events. The resort to newspapers was an attempt to capture the more visual features of these facts and the spirit underlining them. Because the correspondence of the Governor of the time to London was recorded in a letter-book, enclosures are omitted in the copies. As the despatches themselves suggest these originally annexed maps, letters and reports, contained valuable information. Moreover, no original records of the Malta Council of Government of the years preceding 1860 exist in Malta. Both these handicaps which would have hampered my research work were overcome by tracking the original records at the Public Records Office in London. The Records of the Colonial and War Office relevant to Malta during the Crimean War proved invaluable sources of information. Thanks to them, Part One could proceed more easily without any missing parts. As for Part Two, the attempt to trace economic and social implications of war was largely met by adding to the sources already used for Part One a very remunerative source - Petition addressed to the Governor. Innumerable volumes of petitions starting from 1840's onwards have hardly even been consulted by historians. Those covering the part of Sir W. Reid's administration between 1853-1856 number 23 in all (vols. 7-30) making up about 5,750 petitions. Because petitions were addressed to the Governor for a multiple number of reasons (e.g. for a licence to practice a certain trade, for permission to build, for exemption from duties), they afford a wealth of information. The more lucrative petitions as regards socioeconomic impacts of the period under study are those asking for some kind of pecuniary relief; each illustrating a small world of misery, together they make up an interesting basis for exploration. It is largely thanks to the survival of these documents that one can come to grips with situations which would otherwise have remained hidden to posterity. The newspapers, although very helpful, cannot substitute the intimate intricacies of these petitions. Other helpful material as regards Part Two were the Consular returns from the American Consul in Malta to U.S. This work, I hope, will serve as a stimulus for a more thorough study of nineteenth century Malta and would accordingly contribute something to the writing of Maltese history. My deepest thanks for the generous guidance of this thesis go to Mrs J. Vella Bonavita whose help proved invaluable in the circumstances. I would also like to express gratitude to Mr R. Vella Bonavita for his concern and assistance, Dr G. Wettinger and Professor A.P. Vella (until recently professor of this department) for their help throughout the years, Mr H. Salmon (British Representative in Malta) who kindly supplied me with details as to the Public Records Office, Dr H. Frendo (until recently lecturer at this University), and all my friends.