As the Imperial government’s Attorney General, Emmanuele must have been influential in 19th century Maltese society.

He is one of my maternal 3 x great-grandfathers.

Emmanuele was born in 1829 or 1830, because he was 62 when he died in 1892¹. He was born in Valletta¹, which is where his parents were from. He is the son of Isidoro Farrugia (Listed as Farrugia Gay¹) and Giovanna Lebrun or Leburu^{1 2}.

Emmanuele styled his surname as Farrugia Gay. Official documentation lists him as “Farrugia” so that is the convention I use here. He certainly did use the double-barrelled surname because one court case he was involved in (see below) refers to him in this fashion.

Family

He married Annetta Zarb¹, on Wednesday 18 November 1851³ at the church of Our Lady of Safe Haven, Valletta⁴.

Together they had seven children I know of⁵:

• Giovanni⁶
• Fillippo, who became a medical doctor⁷.
• Giuseppa
• Guglielmo
• Victor Hugo, who became an electrician⁷.
• Gio Battista
• George

Notable events

He lived in Valletta around the mid-1850s because that is where his son was born⁶. He later moved to Qormi:

• In 1860, he lived at Strada Reale, Qormi according to the electoral register⁸.
• In 1870 and 1880⁹, he lived at 66, Piazzetta, Qormi according to the updated electoral register¹⁰.
• He lived his last years at 66, Strada Piazzetta, Vicolo Secondo¹. This street no longer exists and I haven’t found which one it was.

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His son described him as a Procuratore Legale⁶ (EN: Attorney General) in 1884. By the time he died, Emmanuele became independently wealthy and was listed as “Benestante”¹ (EN: Wealthy) on his death certificate.

Death

He died at 22:30¹ on Tuesday 20 December 1892¹. He died of “heart disease”¹ which could mean many things, but reflects 19th century diagnostic medicine. He died at home in Qormi¹, and his family buried him in St George’s parish church, also in Qormi¹.

References

1. Act of death of Emmanuele Farrugia (1893). [online] (948). Available at: https://www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 02 Dec 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Velin, N. (2024). Marriages in Malta – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/marriages.html#rowNum=50 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2024].[↩]
3. Velin, N. (2024). Marriages in Malta – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/marriages.html#rowNum=50 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2024].[↩]
4. Velin, N. (2024). Marriages in Malta – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/marriages.html#rowNum=50 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2024][↩]
5. Charles Said-Vassallo (2019). ArabSicilyMalta-Farrugia – Maltagenealogy. [online] Maltagenealogy. Available at: https://maltagenealogy.com/arabsicilymalta-farrugia/[↩]
6. Act of marriage of Giovanni Farrugia and Grazia Balzan. (1884). [online] (948). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024][↩][↩][↩]
7. Velin, N. (2021). Passports in Malte – Digital Genealogy. [online] Digital Genealogy. Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/passports.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2024][↩][↩]
8. Malta Family History (2025). Voters 1860. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180722215148/http://website.lineone.net/~remosliema/voters1860.htm [Accessed 26 Jan. 2025][↩]
9. Malta Family History (2025). Voters 1880. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180722215148/http://website.lineone.net/~remosliema/voters1880.htm [Accessed 26 Jan. 2025][↩]
10. Malta Family History (2025). Voters 1870. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180722215148/http://website.lineone.net/~remosliema/voters1870.htm [Accessed 26 Jan. 2025][↩]