From midwives to funeral directors : the Attard-Gatt connection

Abstract

Having become a formal colony of Britain with the publication of the Treaty of Paris in 1814, Malta’s lifestyle and costumes were definitely influenced by that of England as it was expected to be in an age of imperialism and colonialism. Although much nearer to continental Italy than isolated Britain, the influence of the British mens on the people of the Maltese islands is a fact that no serious historian would dare to challenge. The presence, unto this day, of the British post box, the ‘VR’ slabs and the fire-places in some of our homes, are certainly among the main relics of what was once British Malta.