Social interaction at Cospicua during the first 50 years of British rule : 1800-1850

Abstract

The term social interaction can have various meanings and interpretations - however the basic or fundamental meaning relates to the behaviour of people and their relationship/s that is created when they live together. When looked through a historical background, the term is used to shed some light on the way people behaved in their day-to-day way of life and how their behaviour resulted in the growth of such a community. Man’s behaviour in this world of men is not random. It follows certain rules which are subject to change with time. Naturally a number of external forces always exert their influence on the course of behaviour of the community and when historians try to interpret and give meaning to the resulting pattern they always look at the whole picture. Historical analysis is commonly used in social research as a background against which a comprehensive study may be set. The most widely used tools to undertake such a historical analysis are written documents as these will enable a reader to draw up a complete picture. These are used to give an interpretation of man’s struggles within society. This study tries to analyse the growth of the community at Cospicua in the fifty year period of 1800 – 1850. The general socio-political situation that was evolving in Malta at that time had a direct influence on the growth of the community. The analysis is carried out via two important sets of documents – the parochial and diocese records and the notarial deeds drawn up by the notaries who resided in the city. One of the key factors that helped to increase this social integration was the influx of a number of merchants who found it to their advantage to take up residence in the city where they could make their financial and commercial transactions within a few metres from where their goods used to be landed and stored. At the end of the period these same merchants were forced to leave due to the arrival of a labouring mass that was drawn to the city by the provision of a regular-wages employment.