Notarial Archives Foundation

12/06/2026

This week we had the pleasure of celebrating several birthdays at the Notarial Registers Archive, including a very special milestone for one of our longest-serving volunteers, George Camilleri, who turned 90.

George has been volunteering with the Notarial Archives Foundation for over a decade, generously giving his time, energy and friendship in support of our mission.

We also extend our kindest wishes to Prof. Vicki Ann Cremona, Raquel, and Dr Joan Abela, who all celebrated their birthdays over the past week and who, together with George, form part of the wider community that strengthens the Foundation.

While archives are often associated with the collections they preserve, they are also places where friendships are formed and communities grow around a common purpose. Collections may fill shelves, but it takes a community to care for them.

12/06/2026

📣 Closure Notice

The NRA Museum will be closed from 15 to 19 June for our annual maintenance and housekeeping.

Normal opening hours will resume on Monday 22 June. Thank you.

11/06/2026

The Notarial Archives Foundation wishes Judge Emeritus Giovanni Bonello a very happy 90th birthday.

A distinguished jurist, author, and former judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Judge Bonello has also been a steadfast advocate for Malta's historical and documentary heritage. A former President of the Notarial Archives Foundation, he has supported us and our mission to preserve and promote Malta's notarial and historical legacy for many years.

We wish him good health, happiness, and all the very best.

09/06/2026

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to members of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE), who visited the Notarial Registers Archive and Museum.

Earlier this year, the Presidency of the CNUE was assumed by Dr Roland Wadge, a Maltese notary and long-serving member of the Kunsill Nutarili ta' Malta, which is itself a member of the CNUE.

As the Notarial Archives Foundation, we are proud to have had the opportunity to share a small part of Malta's rich notarial heritage with members of the CNUE. We also extend our sincere thanks to the Kunsill Nutarili ta' Malta for organising the visit.

It is a pleasure to collaborate in promoting the notarial profession and the heritage it has helped preserve through the centuries.

09/06/2026

🤝 Thank you HSBC for continuing to support our efforts to help preserve institutions and their archives and libraries through volunteering efforts.

🗣️ The Special Credit Unit (SCU) team spent their Voluntary Leave Day at the Carmelite Priory in Sliema—an experience they won’t forget.

📚Working in the Priory’s library, the team helped pack books for transfer for disinfestation before being stored at the Order’s convent in Mdina or sent to the Order’s mission in Kenya. This is just one of two libraries on site, and there’s still significant work to complete before the wider property can be restored and brought back into use.

The team worked under the guidance of the project leader, who is also coordinating efforts at the Valletta Priory, alongside local volunteers who warmly welcomed the Bank’s support.

08/06/2026

Huge congratulations to Chimauche Njoku on the successful defence of his MSc in Artificial Intelligence dissertation! ✨

With Chima's successful defence, NotaryPedia has now produced its second MSc dissertation through the work of its Research Support Officers, marking another significant milestone for the project and adding further value to our collaboration with the University of Malta.

As the Notarial Registers Archive's digital collection continues to grow, so too does the amount of information available for research. Chima's dissertation focused on how AI systems can continue learning from newly digitised manuscripts, integrating new information into knowledge graphs while retaining and building upon previously acquired knowledge. In doing so, the system becomes increasingly capable of identifying meaningful relationships across large and expanding collections of historical data.

Congratulations Chima on this achievement. Thank you for your contribution to NotaryPedia and we wish you every success on whatever comes next.

08/06/2026

📣Notice: Please note that on 9 June 2026, the Notarial Registers Archive and the NRA Museum will open at 11:30 as staff will be participating in an emergency preparedness training exercise during the morning.

These exercises form an important part of ensuring the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, visitors, and collections.

We thank you for your understanding.

05/06/2026

The Notarial Archives Foundation thanks Hon. Dr Owen Bonnici for his support and collaboration during his tenure as Minister for the National Heritage, Arts and Local Government, and wishes him every success in his new role.

We welcome Hon. Dr Malcolm Paul Agius Galea and look forward to working together in safeguarding and promoting Malta's documentary and paper heritage.

03/06/2026

🤔 Did you know that fields and parcels of land were often known by their own names?

This beautiful hand-painted plan was discovered by chance during the superficial cleaning of R126/035 (1724–1726), Notary Giuseppe Callus. The associated deed, dated 1 July 1726, records the Fondazione Cottonera granting Maruzzo Zahra an emphyteusis for 150 years over a number of lands, gardens, and buildings in return for an annual payment of 62 scudi.

The document identifies the properties by the names of the locations in which they were situated, including 'Ix-Xatba', 'Is-Sieqja', 'Tal-Palumbara', and 'L-Andar tal-Franċiż'. The deed further notes that these lands were located within a region known as 'Tal-Mentna'.

Can you guess which Maltese locality these lands are found in today?

💬 Leave your guess in the comments before checking the first comment for the solution.

Bonus fact: The document also mentions Fra Ramon Despuig, who would later take office as Grand Master of the Order of Saint John in 1736.

02/06/2026

✨Huge congratulations to Chukwuma Sidney Anih, affectionately known to many of us as 'Chuboi', on the successful defence of his MSc in Artificial Intelligence dissertation, 'Automatic Deed-Level Transcription of Historical Notarial Manuscripts'.

Over the past (almost) two years, Chuboi has become an integral part of the NotaryPedia project and a valued colleague of the Notarial Archives Foundation team. He has dedicated countless hours to researching, developing, testing, and refining AI-driven approaches to the transcription and interpretation of historical notarial manuscripts, using 17th-century registers from the NRA collection as a basis.

His research has mainly focused on attempting to solve a complex challenge for AI-assisted work on notarial manuscripts: correctly recognising and transcribing the handwriting of several different scribal hands, while also being able to interpret the structure of a deed, even when visually challenging to do so, through formulaic Latin cues. His contribution is helping shape the development of NotaryPedia and is playing an important role in bringing us closer to the project's fruition.

Congratulations Chuboi on this well-deserved achievement! We look forward to seeing where this journey takes you next. 🎓