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The British Empire celebrated the fiftieth
anniversary of Queen Victoria’ s accession to the throne
on 21 June 1887. Malta commemorated the event by erecting
a statue in her honour, whilst Gozo on the initiative of its
eminent citizents, Mgr Pietro Pace, the island’s bishop
and Sir Adrian Dingli, the Chief Justice and President of
the Court of Appeal, felt that this Jubilee should be commemorated
in a more fitting manner. So they formulated a petition soliciting
Her Majesty to concede that Rabat be declared a city and renamed
Victoria.
On 19 march 1887, the bishop forwarded the
petition to the General Sir John Arabin Lintorn – Simmons.
The Governor of Malta with sixty eight signatures appended.
On 19 May 1887, the Secretary of State for the colonies, Sir
Henry Holland, informed the Governor that ‘Her Majesty
the Queen has been graciously pleased to consent to the request
of the Gozitans’.
The Jubilee celebrations in Gozo were held
on Sunday 29 May. At the Cathedral, Pietro Pace, Bishop of
Gozo, sang a solemn Te Deum and offered prayers for the preservation
of Her Majesty and the royal family. In the afternoon horse
and donkey races were held, whilst later in the evening, the
two civic bands La Stella and Il Leone delivered musical programmes.
The celebrations came to an end by a display of fireworks.
The dispatch from London had not reached
Valletta in time for the celebrations. The reply was communicated
to the Bishop of Gozo on 4 June and it was made public on
10 June.
His Excellency the Governor directs
it to be notified that Her Majesty the queen, in compliance
with a prayer of a petition signed by the Lord Bishop of
Gozo, the members’ of the Chapter, and of the principal
inhabitants of Gozo, has been graciously pleased to consent
to the town of Rabat in that Island being on the occasion
of Her Majesty’s Jubilee officially declared a City
and its name changed into that of VICTORIA
This Government Notice of 10 June 1887, issued
by the authority of the Governor of Malta, General Sir John
Arabin Lintorn-Simmons, changed by a stroke of a pen the centuries
old name of the town of Gozo and officially declared it a
city.
Later that same year a dolphin fountain with
a commemorative inscription was erected upon the Citadel Square.
At the same time; the centuries old emblem of Rabat was altered
to include the letters VR, Victoria Regina at the top. The
city’s new name began to be used in official documents
and in international gazetteers, but, young and old Gozitans
still refer to the city of Gozo by the old name of Rabat.
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