IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/408
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: SAINT PAUL'S ANGLICAN PRO-CATHEDRAL, VALLETTA, MALTA
Date(s): 1809-1988
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 33 production units.
Name of creator(s): Collegiate Church of St Paul, Valletta x St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral, Valletta
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Bishop of London was held to exercise responsibility for Anglican churches overseas where no other bishop had been appointed. He retained responsibility for churches in northern and central Europe until 1980, but his jurisdiction in southern Europe ceased in 1842 on the creation of the diocese of Gibraltar. In 1980, the Bishop of London divested himself of all overseas jurisdiction and a new diocese of 'Gibraltar in Europe' was established.
The chaplaincy was established when the Collegiate Church of St Paul's, Valletta, Malta, was consecrated on the 1 November 1844. It was built at a cost of £15,000 by Queen Adelaide, who had visited Malta in 1838-9 and had been concerned at the lack of facilities for worship by Anglicans on the island. Although called a collegiate church, there was no collegiate body attached to it until statutes of January 1911. The church is now known as St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral. A pro-cathedral is a parish church which is serving as the cathedral of its diocese.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Collegiate Church of St Paul, Valletta, Malta, later known as St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral. The series of registers of baptisms, marriages and burials include some [Mss 30765-766/1-2] which predate the construction of the Cathedral, but these have contemporary numbers and appear to have been held as part of the Cathedral archives since the 1860s. Other records include banns books, register of interments at Ta Braxia Cemetery, service registers, minutes of chaplain's meetings, building accounts and vouchers, and letter books.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The archives were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library by the Cathedral in October 1996. They were catalogued in the same year by a member of Guildhall Library staff. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
Registers 1A-1C, covering baptisms 1801-9, marriages 1801-18 and burials 1801-7, were lost between 1952-87 although transcripts exist in Malta: please ask at the information desk for details. The registers for baptisms 1956 to date and marriages 1957 to date are kept at the Cathedral and the burial registers for Ta Braxia Cemetery from 1889 are held at the Cemetery, although Ms 30766/3 contains burials until 1892.
See also DL/E/A to DL/E/E for papers relating to the Diocese of London Overseas Jurisdiction; CLC/318 for the Diocese in Europe and CLC/319 for the Diocese of Gibraltar.
Publication note:
A pamphlet on the history of the Cathedral, St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta by R.G. Kirkpatrick, 1988, is held in the Printed Books Section of the Guildhall Library.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: August to October 2010.