Fonds GM - Guljana Masini

The Guljana was initiated by Notary Felice Attard (1802-1874) and continued by his son Pietro Attard (1836-1916), known as Tal-Ispettur. After his passing away, an unknown person or persons proceeded to keep the records. It was eventually acquired by Francesco Masini LL.D (1894-1962) from the heirs of the late Pietro Attard, the original compiler of the Guljana. In 2011, Francesco Masini, deposited this Guljana at the National Archives of Malta, Gozo Archive, where it has been made available for research by the public.

The Guljana Masini – consisting of 88 manuscript volumes of various sizes – enlists all the births, marriages, and deaths that took place in Gozo between 1554 and 1934. It also registers the births of Gozitans in Malta and, sometimes, even abroad. The sources for the information are the parish records. It was in 1554 that the Matrice or mother-church of Gozo started keeping such records.

Three additional values of the collection are: first, a considerable number of family trees that Notary Attard compiled to clients; secondly, many references to contracts, donations, and other issues related to land property owned by his clients; and references to such properties by their original toponym