I know little about Michele Darmenia because few records exist.

Michele is my 4 x great-grandfather.

He was the son of Giuseppe Darmenia and Margherita Gatt¹. His parents married in Vittoriosa, also known as Birgu, and it is reasonable to conclude they lived there, which means he would have been born there. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that he was a resident of Vittoriosa when he married¹.

Family

On Tuesday 18 August 1801, he married Lorenza Lia in Zabbar, Malta¹. They moved to Vittoriosa where they had at least one son, Paolo Darmenia².

Paolo was born in 1814 or 1815. This suggests he wasn’t the first-born, but I have no evidence of any other children which Michele and Lorenza had.

Notable events

I’ve not found any information about Michele’s life in Vittoriosa, so the following is speculation:

• In 1801, Most people in Malta lived in the fortified cities in the harbour area. There were some exceptions, but since he lived in Vittoriosa, I conclude he wasn’t a landowner or a farmer.
• In 1801, Malta was under British control³ following the disastrous French occupation. Michele may have worked with the Knights, then the French and then the British.

Death

I don’t know when he died, where, or why. I also don’t know where they buried him.

Lineage

Michele Darmenia is my 4 x great-grandfather.

1. Extract from Zabbar parish registry; (Retrieved 2024-04-25) [↩][↩][↩]
2. Research conducted by Mary Lanfranco; Ref 031216[↩]
3. How did the British take control of Malta?; Antoine P Borg; The Unexpected Traveller; 2018-10-08[↩]