The British rule and Gozo 1800-1964

Abstract

On 28 October 1798, the flag of the British Empire fluttered for the first time upon the Maltese archipelago from Saint John Cavalier within the Gozo Citadel. That day the French troops on Gozo under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lockey surrendered to Captain Alexander John Ball who had been sent earlier by the British Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson to organize the blockade against the French. Yet as recorded in a letter written by Ball off Gozo and despatched to Nelson, "the place was [later on] delivered up in form to the deputies of the island". The Gozitans remained masters of their own island for twenty two months, until the French troops capitulated in Malta on 5 September 1800, when the whole archipelago passed under the protection of the British Crown. Gozo at the time had one town and seven villages or parishes, as it was the establishment of a Roman Catholic parish that raised the status of a hamlet to that of a village. In 1800, the population was close to 16,000. In March 1842, according to the first census taken by the British, the population was 14,342; of these 6809 or 47.5 percent were males and 7533 or 52.5 percent were females. These figures include 12 foreigners living in Gozo on census day. The population, after an initial decline in the first three decades of the nineteenth century, began rising steadily to climb to 20,003 by 1901 and to 25,975 by 1967. Taking in consideration the political, economic, social, cultural and religious factors, the British rule in Gozo may be divided for convenience into the following five periods:

1. 1800-1814, a time of instability, yet some prosperity; 2. 1814-1842, the years of poverty and depression up to the first census; 3. 1842-1887, a period of innovations and reforms; 4. 1887-1921, from a majority of elected members to self-government; and 5. 1921-1964, the struggle towards independence.