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MEMORJA is the oral, sound and visual archive of the National Archives of Malta (NAM). Our mission is to record life stories from people and groups who are underrepresented in the historical record. The roots of the project lie in the National Memory Project (NMP), initiated in 2004, followed by collaboration with the Public Memory Archive (PMA) at the University of Malta. Established in 2017, MEMORJA has now developed as the principal depositor of our national and public memory.

MEMORJA employs advanced methods in oral history, ethnography and cutting-edge archival approaches to collect, record, preserve and make accessible individual and shared histories passed on orally, visually and through sound. We are interested in the diversity of individual memories, life histories, community experiences and traditions, indigenous knowledge and shared historical events of the Maltese people.

MEMORJA’s oral history-trained staff and volunteers carry out continuous ethnographic fieldwork in the community, enriching our archives with a panoply of memories and recollections, personal photographs, documents, ephemera, artifacts, audio and video recordings and film reels which are generously donated, preserved and made available to all. The ubiquitous presence of our fieldworkers carrying out research and oral history interviews in the community has made the NAM ever more visible. This has generated extensive friendships and a unique relationship of trust between the National Archives and the public.

The project covers different themes related to life in, and experiences of, Malta during the twentieth century. The first five themes within which the research began are: Experiencing War: Survival, Shelter and Food; Migration: the British in Malta; Public Administration; Lampedusa and Malta Connections, and Bell-Ringing. There are many records in different formats, including analogue and digital audio recordings; photographic material (both print and digital); digital video recordings; original and digitised ephemera (diaries, press cuttings, books etc.) and written accounts in electronic format.

The Law Courts Miscellania is a fond containing loose documentation arising from the juridical activities of the various courts and tribunals operating in the Maltese islands during the Order of St John Period, from the arrival of the Order in Malta in 1530 to their departure in 1798. The cases heard before these courts provide valuable information about different aspects of general, commercial and military life in Malta. Most documentation in this collection is in Latin and Italian, but documentation in other languages such as Spanish, French, Arabic and Greek is occasionally included.

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

The Guljana Letard-Ciantar contains data retrieved from Church Archives, scattered across the Maltese Islands, regarding baptisms, marriages and deaths. This collection also contains copies of notarial deeds, benefits, legacies, wills and concessions on titles of Maltese and Gozitan nobility.

This photographic collection has photographs related to the building of churches in Malta, portraits of both influential and unknown individuals, religious processions and activities, political activities and civil works, among others.

The Commerce Department consists of the Support Services Unit, the Small Business and Crafts Unit and two directorates: the Industrial Property Registrations Directorate; the Trade Related Services and Projects Directorate. For each unit or directorate a Subfond was created to include every record which falls under it. In addition, another Subfond was created, entitled 'Legacy Regards' which pertains to records which the Commerce Department inherited from other government departments which have been dissolved. One category of files which was transferred from the Commerce Department to NAM were the files which used to belong to the Department of Trade, hence a Sub Subfond was created for these records.

At present, in this Fond one will find records pertaining to the Industrial Property Registrations Directorate (Subfonds 01): Patents (Series 01) and Designs (Series 02); and Legacy Records (Subfonds 02): Department of Trade files (Sub Subfonds 01) which were inherited by the Commerce Department.

This Fonds contains several Series of records that channeled through all departmental, consular, ecclesiastical, and individual correspondence, and all naval and military correspondence concerning civil matters.

In this Fonds, one may also find: Bills of health, personal passports, and certificates of competency to master mariners, mates and padroni. Acts of naturalization and letters patent of denization to aliens. Warrants to act as advocate, notary, physician, broker, land surveyor, etc. Licenses to deal in marine stores, to act as auctioneer, to keep schools, to exercise the art of goldsmith, etc.

The Chief Secretary’s office also kept records of licenses granted by the Governor, for marriages performed in non-Catholic churches. After the 1921 Constitution all work dealing with purely local matters was taken over by the Maltese Government. The Maltese Imperial government dealt only with ‘matters reserved to the Crown’.

Bound volumes; typed sheets; stencilled sheets; photocopies.