Malta Probate Records

Research use: These records should contain useful lineage linking information, relationships, some marriage and death information. Because these records exist from before the time of church records, they can be helpful in solving early research problems.

Record type: Wills.

Time period: There are wills dating from the late 1300s. Wills were not mandatory until 1863. These records continue to the present.

Contents: Names of heirs; relationships, residences; dates of death.

Location: Notarial archives for the island of Malta are found at 3 M.A.Vassalli Street, Valletta and the Notarial archive for Gozo is on Republic Street in the city of Victoria. Pre-1863 wills are at the public registry offices in Valletta and in Victoria.

Population coverage: About 5%.

The Adami Collection

 * The Adami Collection on Microfilm
 * The Adami Collection is a transcription of parrochial records from the Maltese Islands (Malta and Gozo) that includes marriages, a few baptisms from one parish, marriage legacies or contracts, family trees, ecclesiastical benefices, notarial acts, and miscellaneous notes.
 * Notarial records include wills, codicils, legacies, donations, sales, etc. On the first film containing notarial records, they are arranged in alphabetical order by the surname of the family and then by the name of the notary who drew up the papers for each act. In this catalog, the name of each notary is given along with the dates of his service. It may be necessary to check each notary to locate all of a family's records. In the large set of notarial acts, the records are arranged by family name.