Paul Darmenia worked with the British Forces at their arsenal in Malta. Valletta-born, he also lived in Cospicua, St Julian’s, Sliema and Balzan.

He is one of my maternal great-grandfathers.

Paolo, or Paul, was born at 09:00 on Monday 9 November 1885 in Valletta, Malta, son of Emmanuele Darmenia and Rosina née Grech^{1 2}. They named him after his grandfather and gave him three further names – Salvatore, Domenico, Edgardo^{3 4}.

His parents baptised him the next day in the Basilica of Porto Salvo and St Dominic⁵. Fr Thomas Paul Zarb baptised the young Paolo⁶.

Emmanuele registered his son’s birth 3 days later on Thursday 12 November 1885⁷. The act of birth entered the state registry on Saturday 14 November⁸.

Paul was a British subject at birth⁹. He was 170 cm tall (5 foot 7″)¹⁰ and had a Mediterranean complexion of brown eyes¹¹ and black hair¹².

Family

On Tuesday 25 November 1913 he married Paolina Bonnici from St Julian’s^{13 14}. They were both living in Cospicua at the time of marriage¹⁵.

They both chose their own brothers as witnesses for the wedding. Paolo chose his 21-year-old brother Giuseppe, or Joseph, while Paolina chose her 22-year-old brother Giovanni, or John^{16 17}.

State records show they married in the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Mercy in Sliema¹⁸, but the church’s records say they married in the then newly-built parish church of Stella Maris¹⁹. The Reverend Amadeo Bonello conducted the ceremony^{20 21}. This is unusual because this chapel was not meant to be in use in 1913.

I’ve written about the history of this chapel. Since Sliema had a parish church in 1913 the authorities meant to use the chapel for storage rather than religious activities. State records for Paolo’s wedding suggests this is not the case.

When I went to check the Church’s record of Paul’s marriage, the priest in the parish office consulted page 320 of register #2. He noted that Paul and Pauline’s marriage took place in ‘The parish of Stella Maris’. This is ambiguous since the statement suggests that the wedding took place in the parish church but does not state this. He and I discussed this at length but he had no further information to shed on this matter, except to add that Fr Bonello filled in the register himself.

They registered the marriage on Tuesday 01 December, and it entered the state records immediately²².

Together they had the following children:

• Antonio (known as Antoine) ²³
• Annie, born in 1917.
• Victor
• John
• Mary
• Josephine, known as Josie, who emigrated to Sydney, Australia.

Notable events

Employment history

Paolo worked his whole life with the British forces:

• By the time he got married in 1913, Paolo was working at the British arsenal but I don’t know how long he’d been there by then. His marriage certificate²⁴ states his profession as impiegato all’arsenale (EN: Employed by the arsenal) so we don’t know what he did, other than to know he was employed there.
• On 9 April 1926, a notice in the Edinburgh Gazette lists him as a Painter with his Majesty’s Dockyard²⁵. The notice explains that Paolo received a promotion “without competition” as of 5 March of the same year²⁶.
• In 1927, he described himself as a Chargeman with His Majesty’s Dockyard²⁷. This meant he was in charge of others but we can’t say of whom or of what.
• In 1937, his son married and he described himself as a supervisor²⁸. It’s hard to tell if this is different to “chargeman” or not as I am unfamiliar with the hierarchy and nomenclature at His Majesty’s Dockyard.
• By the time of his death in 1943, he was an Inspector of Painters at His Majesty’s Dockyard^{29 30}, which is another way of stating ‘supervisor’. Indeed, in a note for a requiem mass published a year after his death, he’s described as a ‘Supervisor of Painters'³¹.

While it is hard to infer that his role kept improving, the job titles are relevant in any civil service and this leads me to conclude he worked his way up at HM Dockyards.

It is also logical to conclude that Paul was fluent in English to have spent all his life working with the British forces.

Residence

After being born in Valletta, Paul’s family moved to Cospicua at some point³² but I don’t know when or why.

By April 1915 he moved his family to Sliema³³. I know this was between November 1913 (when he married) and April 1915 (when his eldest was born). I don’t know whereabouts in Sliema they lived.

On 04 July 1927, he was living at 46, Victoria Avenue, Hamrun³⁴. This is now called Triq Guze Pace³⁵.

It is possible the family had moved to St Julians by 1937 since his son, Antoine, listed St Julians as his home when he married in 1937³⁶. In Malta, people didn’t leave home till they got married, so this is a reasonable conclusion. Yet, I have found no evidence to back this conclusion up so far.

He died in Balzan, where he lived with his eldest son and his family.

Other

On 04 July 1927, he applied for a passport to travel to Italy, France and Tunis³⁷. This was his first passport, reference 1173/27³⁸ and it was issued within 2 days³⁹.

It’s curious to note that on his passport application, Paul indicated he was born on 10th November 1885. The documentation above shows he was born on 9th November 1885, and baptised the day after.

Death

He died at 15:30 on Wednesday 08 September 1943 of typhoid fever at his temporary home^{40 41} at 127, High Street, Balzan⁴². This was his son’s, Antonio’s, home in Balzan.

Typhoid fever is a form of salmonella. If you drink unpurified water, or eat unwashed fruit and vegetables, you can catch typhoid fever. It’s not surprising this happened during the war, when fresh water would have been hard to come by. It is not clear if Anthony took his father in to care for him while sick of typhoid, or if Paolo contracted the disease while living there. Since Anthony was a pharmacist by profession, and aware of the importance of hygiene, it is reasonable to conclude Paolo was already sick when he moved to Balzan.

They registered his death in the neighbouring village of Lija on Friday 10 September⁴³. The authorities entered this into the state records on Tuesday 28 September⁴⁴. It is likely that the delay was because of World War II.

On Monday 13 September, The Times of Malta carried his obituary⁴⁵. On Sunday 03 October, the family published a note in the Times of Malta thanking all those who expressed sympathy at his death⁴⁶.

His family buried him at the Addolorata Cemetery in Marsa^{47 48}.

On Friday 08 September 1944, the Times notified the public of a mass for the repose of the soul of Paul Darmenia⁴⁹. This was at the Carmelite church in St Julian’s at 07:30 am on Saturday 09 September 1944⁵⁰.

References

1. Baptism certificate for Paolo Darmenia. (1836). Baptism register for Porto Salvo and St Dominic Parish Church, 1883-1887(317) [↩]
2. Act of Birth of P Darmenia; 1885-11-12[↩]
3. Act of Birth of P Darmenia; 1885-11-12[↩]
4. Baptism certificate for Paolo Darmenia. (1836). Baptism register for Porto Salvo and St Dominic Parish Church, 1883-1887(317) [↩]
5. Baptism certificate for Paolo Darmenia. (1836). Baptism register for Porto Salvo and St Dominic Parish Church, 1883-1887(317) [↩]
6. Baptism certificate for Paolo Darmenia. (1836). Baptism register for Porto Salvo and St Dominic Parish Church, 1883-1887(317) [↩]
7. Act of Birth of P Darmenia; 1885-11-12[↩]
8. Act of Birth of P Darmenia; 1885-11-12[↩]
9. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
10. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
11. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
12. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
13. Extract from the registers of marriages kept in the Parish church of Stella Maris Sliema (Malta); 1913-11-25[↩]
14. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
15. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
16. Extract from the registers of marriages kept in the Parish church of Stella Maris Sliema (Malta); 1913-11-25[↩]
17. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
18. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
19. Extract from the Register of Marriages. (1913). II, p.320[↩]
20. Extract from the Register of Marriages. (1913). II, p.320[↩]
21. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
22. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
23. Birth certificate of Antonio Darmenia; 1915-04-22[↩]
24. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
25. CERTIFICATES ISSUED. (1926). The London Gazette, [online] (33149), p.2476. Available at: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33149/data.pdf [Accessed 23 Aug. 2024][↩]
26. CERTIFICATES ISSUED. (1926). The London Gazette, [online] (33149), p.2476. Available at: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33149/data.pdf [Accessed 23 Aug. 2024][↩]
27. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
28. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; 1937-11-25[↩]
29. Act of Death of P Darmenia; 1943-09-08[↩]
30. Obituary; The Times of Malta; 1943-09-13[↩]
31. Requiem masses; The Times of Malta; 1944-09-08[↩]
32. Act of Marriage. (1913). [online] (945). Available at: www.certifikati.gov.mt [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018][↩]
33. Birth certificate of Antonio Darmenia; 1915-04-22[↩]
34. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
35. Kelly G. A. (2003). An outing to Tunis. [online] Times of Malta. Available at: https://timesofmalta.com/article/an-outing-to-tunis.137985 [Accessed 5 May 2025][↩]
36. Act of Marriage of Anthony Mary Darmenia and Mary Carmela Felice; 1937-11-25[↩]
37. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
38. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
39. Passport application for Paul Darmenia. (1927). L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta’ Malta[↩]
40. Obituary; The Times of Malta; 1943-09-13[↩]
41. Death certificate of Paul Darmenia; Church records; 2020-12-21[↩]
42. Act of Death of P Darmenia; 1943-09-08[↩]
43. Act of Death of P Darmenia; 1943-09-08[↩]
44. Act of Death of P Darmenia; 1943-09-08[↩]
45. Obituary; The Times of Malta; 1943-09-13[↩]
46. Note of thanks; The Sunday Times of Malta; 1943-10-03[↩]
47. Act of Death of P Darmenia; 1943-09-08[↩]
48. Death certificate of Paul Darmenia; Church records; 2020-12-21[↩]
49. Requiem masses; The Times of Malta; 1944-09-08[↩]
50. Requiem masses; The Times of Malta; 1944-09-08[↩]