Ordering Maltese Certificates
Contents
Birth
Maltese certificates can be ordered on line.
A new simple way to acquire certificates is from the public registry online service.
There isn't an index like there is for England and Wales and the Public Registry in Malta generally searches for 3 years either side of the date you supply.
The cost is approx LM 4.00 for an A3 certificate which is just under £7.00 and it has an amazing amount of information.
Quote:
Luckily for me, I had spotted Sarah Needham on the 1901 census and knew she was born in approximately 1882.
I knew that her father was called James and family legend said that her mother was called Sarah something beginning with X.
These were the details that I used on the online form.
The certificate that was returned to me shows the date, time and place of birth.
A Maltese cert gives both parents' details including age, place of birth, occupation and residence. It gives the grandfathers' names including whether they were still alive.
Marriage
A marriage certificate costs LM 4.00 and supplies the names, ages, birth place, occupation and residence of the bride and groom.
It gives details of both the bride's and groom’s parents including whether or not they are living and their occupation. It also gives details of witnesses including their occupation, age, residence, place of birth and the names of their fathers.
It also states where the marriage took place, the date and the name of the priest.
Quote:
From the birth certificate I found out that Sarah’s mother was Serafina Scicluna (Scic can also be written as Xic – tying into family legend).
So for the marriage certificate I approximated a year of 1881 and gave the parties' names as Serafina Scicluna and James Needham. I had a bit of a surprise when I got the marriage certificate as the groom was listed as Giacomo – it is Italian for James!
Malta has a handful of genealogists that will do the research work for you but unless you go to Malta there isn’t a way to verify the information they have given you.
A 'tip' if you go, is to give the Parish Priest a donation as it seems to smooth the way; however you may need to visit each parish individually.
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