As most of my knowledge about Susannah centres around her life in Malta it would seem sensible to start with a brief word about Malta for those who don't know the island. Malta is a small (95 sq. miles) island in the Mediterranean Sea. It has 2 sister islands Gozo (26 sq miles) and Comino (1 sq. mile). It is 58 miles south of Sicily and 180 miles from North Africa. Traditionally Malta is a Roman Catholic country with numerous churches - at least one for every day of the year. It is strongly linked with St Paul who was shipwrecked on the island in 60 A.D. It is quite rocky and has plenty of hills. It has its' own language, Maltese, and English is widely spoken. Oranges, lemons and figs thrive. It can get very hot in July & August although there is usually a sea breeze which makes it bearable. The average summer (May - October) temperature is 90F. Seldom rains between the end of May and 15th August. It has been occupied many times and was a stronghold of the British from 1800 until Independence on 21st September 1964. In 1853 there were a garrison of some 3000 British soldiers. The island suffered terribly during the Second World War especially in 1942 which was the height of the bombing raids by the German & Italian Air Force. There was little food and various convoys bringing help were frequently destroyed. The island of Malta was awarded the George Cross for its bravery.
My first sight of the Hickmott surname was in the registers of St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral, Independence Square, Valletta, Malta. An extract from the marriage register for 23rd August 1849 reads as follows:-
The only Susan Elizabeth Hickmott that I can find is Susannah Elizabeth Hickmott daughter of Sophia Hickmott, labourer, who was baptised 26th February 1826 at Lamberhurst in Kent. It could be that she was illegitimate or her father died before she was baptised. In either case I have not found a marriage for a Thomas Hickmott to a Sophia.
I have absolutely no idea how she came to be in Malta - was she a nurse travelling with the army - more likely she could have been a Nanny employed by an Army Officer. Plenty to speculate on there.
Hugh Munro was born on 2nd March 1808 and baptised on 1st April in St Andrew's Church Parish in Edinburgh. His parents were Hugh Monro, Chairman, and Margaret Monro. A Chairman was a maker of chairs. Hugh joined the Royal Regiment of Sappers and Miners on 16th May 1827 at Edinburgh Castle. He stayed in the Sappers & Miners for 20 years serving in Halifax Nova Scotia for 7 years and Corfu (one of the Greek islands) 5 years. He was discharged on 21st April 1847 and had risen to the rank of Color Serjeant. His physical description at discharge was 5ft 10in, light brown hair, blue eyes with a fresh complexion. He was a mason by trade.
While in Halifax he married his first wife, Susannah Skinner on the 23rd August 1830. They went on to have at least 8 children. Maria Margaret (17 July 1831), Hugh Charles (13 August 1833) and Henry Jason (3rd December 1835) were all born in Nova Scotia. Hugh and Susannah then returned to the UK where Douglas (11th August 1838) and Charles Frederick (24th January 1841) were born at the Artillery Barracks in Woolwich Dock Yard, Kent. I have failed to find them on the 1841 census which I need to do in order to confirm which children were with them and to make sure that I have identified them all. Hugh and his family were then stationed at Corfu where they had two more daughters. The first, Marion Georginia (later known as Maria Georgina), was born on the 2nd May 1843 and the second, Susanna Helen Reid, was born on 25th October 1845. On 6th April 1847, a short time before the family left Corfu for Malta, their daughter Maria Margaret married Edwin Evans a bombadier in the Royal Artillery. Maria was 15 years and 9 months old. The officiating chaplain was James Skinner. Immediately after his discharge Hugh took up an appointment as clerk of works with the Royal Engineers based in Malta. A return of the pay and allowances dated 1st October 1847 states that he was appointed on 26th March 1847 at an annual salary of £146. He also received allowances of 8 rates of wood from 1st March to 31st October and 16 rates of wood from 1st November to 28th February as well as one rate of oil throughout the year. At this time he lived in quarters at Fort Ricasoli and had 6 children. As an indication I think that £146 was a pretty good salary - there was only one person (the Clerk of Works) who was getting more (£219) and the poor 73 year old gatekeeper with 5 children was getting £19 11s 3d. Hugh and Susannah's last child, Agnes, was born on 17th January 1849 and baptised, probably at home, on the 19th January by Rev. James Fairbairn, Minister of the Free Church Congregation. Sadly Agnes died on 23rd January aged 6 days and her mother Susannah died 5 days later aged 40 years.
Hugh was left with six children with an age range of 21 months to 15 years. Seven months later Hugh married Susan Elizabeth Hickmott. Without knowing Susan's circumstances it must have taken some guts to take on six children. I would think that Hugh would have been able to afford local help for washing and cleaning so maybe life was not too hard. Naturally enough Hugh and Susan went on to start their own family and some of their children were baptised at St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral. The first were Richard Barton (b. 11th July 1851; bap. 7th September 1851) and Hector Edwin (b. 1st August 1853; bap. 28th August 1853). Hugh was granted an army pension for his service with the Royal Sappers and Miners which was effective from 1st January 1854. Hugh and Susan had further children but I have been unable to find their original baptism details. The children were William (b.c. 1854); Flora-Maria (b.c. 1862); Arthur Robert (b.c. 1863/4). There is a possibility that these children were not born in Malta. Arthur Robert states on his marriage certificate that he was born in England but I have been unable to find him. Hugh did not do a very good job on telling any of his children who their mother was or where they were born, even their names change. If they did leave Malta they were back in 1864 when they had Wallace Bertram (b. 7th January 1864; bap. 20th March 1864) and Bruce Bosworth (b. 11th January 1866; bap. 25th February 1866) both baptised at St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral.
When Bruce was 7 months old his mother died. The funeral entry dated 1st September 1866 from the registers in St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral states Susannah Elizabeth Munro (nee Hickmott) wife of Hugh Munro age 36 (probably 40). Susannah was buried at Ta Braxia Cemetery, Pieta which is a couple of miles outside Valletta. Bruce died aged 8 months and was buried on 11th October 1866 in the same grave as his mother. His burial entry had the name Bruce Bronte. Susannah Hickmott had been married 17 years and had at least 7 children. I would have thought her standard of living would have been pretty good while they were living in Malta. Although to kill both mother and child within that time span there might have been a disease on the island at that time.
Hugh was now 58. He had fathered at least 15 children. His 13 surviving children range from the age of 2 to 35. The children from his first marriage have no idea who their mother was, the children from his second marriage have the odd name change.
On 15th February 1868 Maria Georgina, a daughter from his first marriage, married Lorenzo Agius in St Publius Parish Church Floriana. Even though her father was alive she gave her mothers name as Susanna Munro. In order to marry in a Catholic Church Maria Georgina must have converted to Catholicism. She gave her residence as Floriana which is a short walk from Valletta. I could only find the first 2 children of this marriage who both died a few months old.
On 7th July 1872 Charles Frederick Monron marries Maria Carmela Toledo. On the certificate his father is Hugh, alive, an Engineer. His mother is dead and he names her as Marianna Anderson. Charles states a birthplace of Glasgow and his residence as Floriana. On subsequent baptism entries of his children he alternates his birthplace between Glasgow and Corfu. The godparents of one of his children are 'William - son of the late Ugo Munro, and his wife Anna'. (i.e. Anna is the wife of William). My Aunt and Uncle can remember their son Fredu (Alfred), who died in 1937, visiting them at Pieta.
Hugh dies on 26th November 1872 at 9 Calcedonro Square, Floriana. A cause of death is not shown on the certificate neither is the informant. Hugh's parents are unknown. He is said to be the widower of Susan Ellen Reed in the first instance and Susan Elizabeth Hickmoth in the 2nd instance. Susan Helen Reid was his daughter - I have no idea whether she is alive or dead at this time but she was not his first wife. I have lost track of the remaining children of Hugh's first marriage (Hugh Charles; Henry Jason; Douglas and Susanna Helen Reid) and wonder if they returned to the UK around 1860. The children left are Richard (21), Hector (19), William (17), Flora-Maria (11), Arthur (9-10) and Wallace (8). One can presume that Richard, Hector and possibly William are working and that they employ a servant to look after the three youngest children.
In 1874 Richard, now 23, applies for a papal dispensation to marry a poor Maltese girl called Carmela Teuma. There is no record of this marriage taking place but in the application it does say that he has a sister married to a Maltese who converted to Catholicism and a brother who received papal dispensation and who encourages his wife to observe her (religious) duties.
On the 12th October 1874 Hector Edwin is converted to Catholicism and baptised at St Publius Parish Church in Floriana. He is the first of Hugh and Susannah Hickmott's children to become a Catholic. Subsequently the rest of the family all become Catholics. Richard and William were baptised the week before they married so their reasons may not have been purely spiritual.
The first to get married is William (who names his mother as Susanna Headack) in 1878. He marries Anna Grech. They have at least 4 children but 2 die in childhood. This branch of the family settled in Zejtun. One of their sons, Hugh, is born 16th January 1882 and dies 19th September 1946. Hugh married Josepha Consiglia in Zejtun in November 1908. This couple had several children, most of whom died young. John (1919-1993) however went on to marry Maria Concetta Vella and they settled in Cospicua and raised their family.
Arthur becomes a Catholic in 1881. Wallace Bertram is baptised a Catholic as Emmanual Wallace on 25th March 1882. Flora-Maria is also baptised a Catholic on 24th June 1882.
Hector is the second to marry and marries Carmela Schembri in November 1883. He is aged 30 and a messenger. Hickmott is correctly spelt on his marriage certificate. This branch of the family stayed around Floriana. They had a girl, Giuseppa Annetta, in August 1884. I have failed to find a death or burial entry for her but no-one in my family was aware of her so she must have died before 1915 and probably did not survive childhood. Carmela had at least 3 children born dead and lost a boy, Henry, aged 10 months with gastro-enteritis. The only child who survived was my grandfather Hugh who was born on 25th February 1888 in Valletta at 1 o'clock in the morning. Hugh attended an Army school. Hector died on 11th October 1904 of T.B. At this time Hugh was 16. Hugh went on to marry Anna Grech in Floriana on 14th November 1910. They spent the first 5 years of their married life in Floriana, moved for a short time to Msida and then moved in 1917 to Pieta. Hugh and Anna had 11 children although one, John, died in 1928 at the age of 18 months. There were 5 boys and 5 girls including twin girls. Half the family inherited the fair hair and blue eyes from the Scottish and English blood with the remainder having dark hair and brown eyes. I feel that Susannah Hickmott must have been fair for the genes to still be so strong after 3 generations. Hugh worked in the dockyard and died in 1936 leaving a young family. Annetta died in 1968. She had suffered a stroke some 8 years earlier and needed constant care. Nanna had lots of love and my Dad reckoned she was a saint. The twins, Stella and Carmelina, both came to live in England. Stella married Henry Stubbs in Hamrun, Malta in 1941. Henry was in the REME. Henry stayed in the Army for a good part of his life and then worked for the Royal Mail, in Canterbury, Kent until he retired. Carmelina came to England as a Nanny for an English family and married Bill Beattie who was in the Merchant Navy. Bill worked on the Queen Mary and the QE2 for quite a few years. They spent most of their married life in Fareham. The final one to come to England was my mum, Florinda. She married Richard Lake-Grange in Msida, Malta in 1944. Dad was a corporal in the RAF. The rest of the family stayed in Malta. Some of my cousins, both here and in Malta, are grandparents now. Sadly only 3 of the 11 are with us now, all on Malta. My Aunt and Uncle, who still live in the family house that they were born in, act as a catalyst for all the family news. They are brilliant and I love them dearly. I don't expect that it can last another generation but the brothers and sisters were very close and consequently my generation keeps in touch - which isn't bad considering there are 10 of us in England and 6 in Malta and we all know each others children and grandchildren.
Richard Barton was the third to get married. He gave his mother's name as Susanna Headvech. Richard did a name change to Richard Joseph and married Carmela Grech in Floriana Parish Church in January 1884. Carmela was the sister of Anna Grech the wife of William. I could only find one child, Ugo, of this marriage. Ugo was born 8th September 1886 and died 23rd November 1932. He was a shipwright. Richard was a mariner. He died in Floriana hospital on 30th April 1902. Carmela had died in 1899 so it can't have been much of a life for Ugo to have been orphaned at 18.
Arthur married Rosina Bartolo in Floriana in May 1892 and he gave his mothers name as Susanna Sharrish. The couple settled in Albert Town where Arthur became a building contractor. They had at least 4 children, Carmelo (1893-1927); Roberto (1895-1909); William (1898-1899) and Richard (1900-?). Richard went on to marry Josephine Donnelly in 1924 and they had a daughter, Maria, in 1925.
Wallace Bertram was better know as Emmanuel. He married Michelina Mifsud in Cospicua in 1885 and stated his mothers name as Susanna Fredrock. Emmanuel became a Sergeant in the Naval Police and died of Cerebral Thrombosis in 1937. The couple made their home in Cospicua and had several children.
Flora-Maria never married. She died in November 1936 aged 75 (the public registry has her as 95 but I go along with the church record) in Zejtun. My Aunt and Uncle can remember her visiting them when they were children.
In conclusion I have to say thank you to Hugh Munro and Susannah Hickmott otherwise I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't have such wonderful relatives and I wouldn't have had such an enjoyable, but extremely difficult, time unravelling some of the family history.
Hugh Munro, widower, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Now foreman of works in H.M. Royal Engineer Service in Malta and Susan Elizabeth Hickmott, Spinster aged 21 years and upward, born in Tunbridge in Kent, England daughter of the late Charles and Sophia Hickmott of Tunbridge - were by virtue of licence having date .... Signed John Cleugh
Pat Stamp (nee Lake-Grange)
2001