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To the curious citizen, or the enquiring expatriate, who have eyes to see and take time to think, many of the streets and alleys in Malta and Gozo make reference to individuals who deserve to be remembered not only by a name but also by their deeds especially exceptional meritorious services to the community.
Thus in April-May, about 200 years ago, bubonic plague originating from Constantinople, via Alexandria , devastated Malta (1813); it then struck at the village of Xaghra in Gozo (1814).
An able, energetic an resourceful British army medical officer volunteered magnanimously and directed the medical management, isolating the village in quarantine, built tenting accommodation for the villagers, segregated their animals, converted a farmhouse into a ‘field’ hospital, while a military cordon was thrown around the village.
In all fully 104 individuals of this small village succumbed to bubonic plague, including the gallant doctor, a credit to his medical profession and to the British medical staff.
And just about 15 years ago a street in Xaghra was accordingly and appropriately named after him, bearing the following inscription:
Dr George McAdam
Tabib
1770 -1814 in grateful remembrance of his devoted service to the small community of Xaghra in 1814 , and indirectly to the entire population of Gozo. Greater love than this no man has given.
How about you? Is there a story behind the name of the street in the village/town in which you live?
Colonel (Retd) Dr Ethelwald Emilius Vella
Manikata
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