Slowly, under British Rule, life returned to normal so that by 1810, the population was once again growing rapidly. In 1813 an outbreak of plague resulted in the death of over 4,000 Maltese. The plague marked not only the end of prosperity but also the end of population growth. From this point we can say that the economy stagnated.

In 1830 there was an outbreak of small pox (ġidri); 756 Maltese persons died.

In 1837  a cholera epidemic killed a further 4,253.

Besides, the Maltese began to emigrate to overcome the low wages. The first census was taken in 1842; the population was 113,864.

From 1842 onwards the population increased.

Nineteenth century administrators were concerned with the problems generated by a high rate population growth but they did not manage to do much – the surplus inhabitants had to leave and settle elsewhere. They emigrated.

During the years of high prosperity at the beginning of the 19^th Century, there had been little incentive to migrate but by 1820 individual Maltese were moving out of the islands. Public funds could not be expanded on emigration although the local administration did help to organize a number of schemes none of which were particularly successful. The Maltese who emigrated went principally to North Africa. By the end of the 19^th century there were well over 50,000 Maltese scattered around the shores of the Mediterranean – Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli and Egypt, contained the most important colonies but there were also significant communities in Smyrna, Constantinople, Gibraltar and Ionian islands.

The great increase in the numbers of persons living in the islands, which took place under British Rule, was reflected in changes in the numbers and size and form of towns and villages.

When the British took control in1800 the settlement pattern consisted of two basic structures – the compact villages (Qormi, Żebbuġ, Qrendi etc) of the Maltese countryside and the group of towns which the Order had founded around the Grand Harbour (Paola, Floriana, Senglea…)  The coasts and remote areas contained few dwellings. During the Britsish period settlements developed in the outlying areas and a string of suburbs grew up around the harbourside towns.

At the beginning of the 19^th century the population of Valletta numbered about 20,000 persons by 1861 the figure was 25,000 but this marked a high point in the development of the city. From 1861 onwards people started to move out of Valletta and sought dwelling places in the suburban areas (Hamrun, Paola, Marsa).

The other harbourside towns had a similar history to that of the capital. The number of people living in Floriana increased very rapidly in the first half of the 19^th century but in 1871 a peak was reached and since then numbers have declined markedly. After the mid-point of the 19^th century the poulations of Vittoriosa, Cospicua and Senglea grew very slowly in numbers. The majority of the old established villages fared rather better than the harbourside towns and most of them grew steadily, if unspectacularly in size.

The suburbs displayed very rapid growth in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Sliema: In 1833 Sliema was described as being a little village consisting of the summer residences of the inhabitants of Valletta. Similar settlements were beginning to grow up at Msida and St Julians. In1861 there were 324 people living in Sliema, but by 1957 there were over 23,000.

At St Julians there were 600 inhabitants in 1871. At the conclusion of the Second World War there were 9,122.

The suburbs which developed in the Sliema area were inhabited by the professional and commercial classes but the working class suburbs at Ħamrun, Paola and Marsa underwent even more explosive growth.

In 1871 there were 3,200 people living in the Ħamrun, Marsa, Santa Venera area, but by 1948 there were ten times as many.

Paola had 488 inhabitants in 1861 but 14,793 in 1948.

Some of the older villages such as Zabbar, Qormi and B’Kara also increased their population numbers rapidly.

In the outlying coastal districts settlements grew up at St Paul’s Bay, Marsaxlokk, Birżebbuġa and Marsascala. All these villages were originally small fishing settlements but in this century they have developed as holiday resorts.

In the north-western Malta settlements have grown up at Mellieħa, Mġarr, Manikata and Żebbieħ in association with the agricultural colonization of the area in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

1.         Poor lighting -  all roads were deserted after sunset

2.         1853 – oil lamps lit streets, but were inadequate

3.         1857 – gas lighting introduced in the harbour cities, remaining villages had insufficient lighting. The government introduced a number of oil lamps in such places since it was not possible to introduce gas light in all parts of the island.

4.         1896 – an electric power station began to function – still majority of village streets li by oil lamps.

5.         Electricity introduced in Luqa in 1929; water in 1930.

6.         1910 the Melita Telephone Exchange company had set up a telephone system as a  public service.  

In the early years of British rule, internal transport consisted mainly of Kalessi. These were horse-drawn carriages which seated two passengers increased to four by 1831. The Kaless remained in use up to the 1870s. The introduction of the horse drawn omnibus in 1856 was beneficial to most of the population.  It was run on a fixed timetable from Lija to Valletta taking approximately 45 minutes for each trip. It carried 16 passengers. Although much cheaper than the kaless, the common worker could not afford it. It was extended to other villages in 1857. The new destinations included Mdina, Żebbuġ and St Julians via Sliema. In 1859 the omnibus company was ordered to carry mail. Its popularity began to wane by the 1890s owing to competition from other means of transport, it had stopped functioning.

Malta’s connection with the railway age was brief and unsuccessful.

In 1880 the Malta Railway Company was founded and in 1883 opened a line between Valletta and Mdina. The venture was not a success and in 1890 the Government took over the line as the railway was judged to have become a danger to the public; the line underwent a thorough overhaul and in 1892 it was reopened and quickly started to make money for the local treasury. The only extension brought into operation was at Mdina, where a tunnel was driven through the hill on which the town stood and a line laid to serve the barracks and military hospital at Mtarfa. The cost of the extension was about £20,000. The line continued to do well financially but in 1903 the administration allowed a company to start building electric tramways in Malta. Services were run on three lines which connected Valletta with Birkirkara, Cospicua and Żebbuġ. In 1931 the railway was closed down.

In the last decade of the 19^th century, a more popular form of transport came into being. This was the KAROZZIN (cab) a modern version of the kaless.

The BICYCLE at first reserved for British officers, was also introduced around 1870. By the 1890s its use had spread and had become common among civilians.

Meanwhile the harbour area had a system of  DGĦAJJES (passage boats) operating from Valletta to the Three Cities and to Sliema. Boat transport was of vital importance to both the Three Cities and the naval base of Tignè Sliema. The Dgħajsa tal-Pass operated in the Grand and Marsamxett Harbours and was licensed to carry 10 passengers. Boatmen had a monopoly of transport in the harbour and in 1856 there were already 42 licensed boats. These boatmen were to face strong competition with the setting up of the Motor Ferry Service (a new company) in 1881. At first the ferries operated from Valletta (Marsamxett) to Sliema and although harassed by protests from boatmen, it proved to be the best and cheapest means of transport on the island. By the middle of the 19^th century there were seven dgħajjes tal-Latini (these had developed from the xprunara). They carried both passengers and cargo. Following the introduction of the steam ship Gleneagles in the 1880s, fees and tariffs were regulated.

Under the British rule Maltese agriculture underwent a number of profound changes, with the hope that local productivity could be raised. (Increased productivity would have made the islands less susceptible to a blockade and provided more jobs).  One of Ball’s first actions was to introduce the potato crop into the islands and although to get established with the local farmer it took some time, it did eventually become one of Malta’s principal exports. Ball invested in a Botanical Garden and in gardens in some villages. An idea, which occupied the minds of the British administrators for long periods, was the possibility of establishing farmers on some of the vacant lands in the islands. It was not until the 1840s that a wholesale attempt was made to start an agricultural colonization of some of the vacant lands in North – West Malta, which were the property of civil administration. Between 1840 and the end of the century, large areas of the government land in North-West Malta were divided up into geometrical blocks and given to farmers on long term, low cost leases which stipulated that the holding had to be developed and brought into cultivation. Access roads were laid out and new village established at Mġarr and Mellieħa. These new fields were built-up but much of which has since been abandoned.

HEALTH:  Plague and Cholera Epidemics

1813   -  a plague killed over 4,000 people

{A widespread social and economic upheaval followed in the wake of this epidemic. There was an almost complete cessation of trade particularly that connected with shipping which involved some 1,800 coal heavers. Many families found themselves reduced to poverty and incapable of earning a livelihood. Many chattels were pawned at the Monte di Pietà in Valletta}

Various attempts were made during the first half of the 19^th century to increase the water supply of the Island. During Bouverie’s governorship an aqueduct was built to bring water from Fawwara to Mqabba, Luqa, Tarxien, Paola and the Three Cities, Gudja, Għaxaq, Żejtun and Żabbar. It started functioning in 1845. Sliema the fast growing town was supplied with water in 1881. By 1882 only the inhabitants of Valletta, Floriana and Cottonera district together with a few villages had been provided with aqueduct water. The rest of the island still depended on rain water gathered in cisterns for its domestic needs and the dangers of contamination had not disappeared.

In 1883 Mr Osbert Chadwick was called to Malta to find ways and means of  improving the water situation of the island. As a result of his suggestions, new galleries (tunnels) and several pumping stations to raise water to the surface were constructed. A number of public cisterns that were found to be liable to pollution were emptied and put out of use, while others were cleaned from possible contamination.

A domestic water supply system was introduced in 1890; until then many people had to make use of public water-pumps and private well. Water under pressure was laid on in the towns so that water could now be carried up to the top of the houses. Public taps were also placed in the streets to bring an adequate supply of water within the reach of the poorer sections of the population. More galleries and shafts were dug following another survey by Chadwick in1897 and the water system was extended further.

The Maltese Government contemplated the introduction of the water carriage system of drainage in the towns in 1858.

• Up to then sewers were constructed of porous material

• They were not flushed with water so that there was no possibility of clearing out the deposits in the conduits

• Their outlets were offensive especially during the hot weather

Proposals were made to improve and overcome these problems.

After the sewage of Senglea, Bormla and Birgu was collected it was poured into the Grand Harbour through several outlets causing large areas of sea surface to be covered with offensive matter, the smell of which was blamed for the occurrence of fevers, diarrheas and even cholera.  In 1867 it was proposed to discharge the sewage into the sea at Żurrieq but the scheme was not adopted for financial reasons.

The remodelling of the drainage system was taken in hand in 1878 by the Royal Engineers according to a plan to which the Maltese government contributed financially.

The voting of the money for the conversion of the drainage to the water carriage system raised a storm in the Council of Government in March 1879. The policy was criticised by the elected representatives because the existing conduits were not regular drains but cesspools cut in the rocks. And on account of the scarcity of water for domestic requirements of the population the water carriage system was impracticable as there would not be sufficient water to remove the sewage. A water supply had also to be provided to ensure a proper drainage system.

However the government obtained the necessary money and the project was completed in 1885. House drains were remodeled in the towns and the sewage removed by steam power to an outfall in the sea at some distance south of the Grand Harbour.

The cholera epidemic of 1887 showed that the unhealthy state of the villages required the extension of drainage to the country districts where the only means of house sewerage was the cesspool. In 1889 a scheme was planned to extend the drainage system to the countryside but it was not until April 1897 that the necessary money was voted by the Council of Government. Before the outbreak of the First World War such large villages as Luqa, Żejtun, Bkara, Balzan and Lija had not been drained.

The dry docks and shipping provided substantial work to the Maltese during the 19^th century. Small business-links with the North African ports, where many Maltese emigrants had settled were established in the first half of the 19^th century. These Maltese business trafficking in cloth, tobacco, wine, oil, skins and beasts made good profits which the arrival of the British regiments increased further as they started to supply provisions to the Armed Forces.

The manufacturing industries had, however done badly in the 19^th century. The growing of cotton, which had served as a cash crop since the Middle Ages, had lost its importance as an industry owing to the Egyptian economic boom and the importation of vast amounts of cheap cotton from Egypt, America and the British industrial towns. By the 1840s the manufacture of cotton had ceased.

Other industries included that of cigars, which in 1839 was considered a most profitable branch of trade here and gives employment to many thousands of poor families. By 1856, it provided work for 1,500 workers and exported cigars to all parts of the Mediterranean. But the industry was doing very badly by the end of the century.

In the latter part of the century, Malta had such a weak commercial performance that even the island’s highly valued oranges were being exported only on a small scale. In 1890, 127,000 dozen oranges were shipped, but by 1899 the figure went down to a mere 9,000 dozen.

A very profitable business for the Maltese was that of ship-chandelling. These people supplied the provisions to the British services.

There was so much work in Malta at the start of this century that when, in 1903, the breakwater project was commenced, skilled workers from Sicily and Spain had to be employed.

Education was described by the 1838 Commission as amall in quantity and bad in quality. Illiteracy was widespread. The skola tan-nuna (nursery school) taught children folktales, nursery rhymes and prayers, hut hardly anything else. A Government department for primary schools was set up in 1840, but progress was so slow that by 1861, out of a population of 134,055 less than 8,000 males could read Italian and less than 4,000 could read English. The low standard of living discouraged parents from sending their boys to school. Boys were made to work at a very early age in order to earn some money. The 1891 census reported that while 80 percent of males between the ages of 45 and 50 could not read, 85 per cent of females in the same group were illitterate. By the turn of the century there were about 30 elementary schools, a few night schools, and one Sunday school. There were also four main secondary schools and a few small private ones, The Lyceum, which had 415 students in 1900, was by far the largest; the Girls’ Grammar School had 120; the Technical and Manual School had a mere 15; while the Gozo Secondary School had 23. The University which catered almost exclusively for the well-to-do, had only 86 male students. Only this class of people could afford private libraries.