BOV supports conservation of its founding document

Bank of Valletta has supported the conservation of eight historical documents found at the Notarial Archives in St Christopher Street, Valletta, including its founding document.

This project was spearheaded by the Notarial Archives Foundation (NAF) under its ‘Adoption Scheme’, which encourages institutions, companies and individuals to sponsor the conservation of notarial documents.

One of these ‘adopted’ documents is the original deed of the formation of the Anglo-Maltese Bank in 1810. The Anglo Maltese Bank was one of four banks that merged into the National Bank of Malta, the predecessor to Bank of Valletta.

Photo: BOV

The Notarial Archives Foundation is a voluntary organisation that seeks funding to preserve and protect the rich collection of notarial documents in a professional, efficient and accessible manner for future generations of researchers.

The conservation of Bank of Valletta’s ‘adopted’ financial instruments was made by the NAF’s warranted paper conservators, under the supervision of Theresa Zammit Lupi. The documents underwent treatment which included surface cleaning, paper and cover repairs, and the flattening of deformations.

Consultant historian to the Notarial Archives Joan Abela and chief notary to government Keith German displayed the set of documents conserved through the bank’s support, to BOV director Diane Bugeja and BOV executive PR and marketing Charles Azzopardi.

Photo: BOV

Abela said that, ironically, these documents survived by being forgotten, since, in all probability, they would have been disposed of had they stored in a place which was regularly used.

Ever since the launch of the Adopt a Notary Scheme in 2013, this was the first time that a sponsorship was directed specifically towards the preservation of financial instruments, namely, old chequebooks. It was hoped that more organisations follow BOV’s example since the foundation’s work depended on such donations.

“The Notarial Archives are literally over 20,000 glimpses of our past six centuries collected in one place. The most significant events in Malta’s history are documented here and it is our duty to preserve them for posterity,” German said.

Photo: BOV