The plague of 1813-1814 with special reference to Qormi

Abstract

In the introduction to this dissertation, I have tried to deal with most of the plagues that affected Malta since 1270 but the material on the early plagues was rather limited. Moreover I found it extremely difficult to find documents wherein Qormi has been particularly mentioned. Knowing that the village is of very ancient standing and with a considerable population throughout the ages, with its geographical proximity to the historic main communication outlet to and from the Island, it can easily be assumed that whenever the scourge visited Malta, the inhabitants of Qormi had always tasted the terrible consequences of its deadly occurrance. In fact during the plagues of 1592 and 1675-76 it is recorded that 124 and 309 died respectively. The 1813-14 plague is the one which is very well recorded both in Manuscripts and published Government notices due perhaps to the fact that it occurred during the early days of the British Rule in Malta when particular attention used to be given to details of measures and counter measures taken to control the spread of the disease. Because of its central position and having constant communication with Valletta, the principal and original source of infection, Qormi played an important part during the duration of the Plague. It is recorded that the Village was the last place in Malta to be declared free from the pestilence of 1813-14. In collecting relevant data, I relied on the Manuscripts extant in the Archives of the Order of St John and in other Archivial Collections of the Royal Malta Library. Moreover I have delved into the Government Proclamations issued during the Plague of 1813-1814, the Parish Archives and consulted other published works.