Description
The Malta Protestant College was established in 1846, but the idea of an English College in the Mediterranean had first been broached by the Marquess of Hastings, Governor of Malta from 1824 to 1826, in a conversation with the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury in Italy. The project was in abeyance for some time, but it gradually forced itself on the attention of several philanthropic persons in England as a means of promoting the “religious and social regeneration” of the millions of inhabitants of the East. A “Provisional Committee” was formed by a group of some forty philanthropic gentlemen, among whom were Members of Parliament, ecclesiastics, noblemen, gentry, and University dons, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Shaftesbury. In 1845 property was bought at St. Julian’s and the organisation of an educational establishment began.
Several reasons led to the closure of the College but ultimately it would seem that too many students were motivated by the wish to get an education free of charge and find a good job in their own country rather than to serve God and their fellow men. The College closed after July 1865.
