20-09-2021, 18:56
The Soltana/Sultana family connection to the Seguna/Saguna/Savona family .
I started looking at my Sultana ancestors back in the mid-80's and being in Australia since 1964 did not manage to get very far. In April 1990 I went to Malta for six weeks and spent most of the daytime searching at the Public Registry, talking to relatives and even met in person Chevalier Carmelo Meli at his residence in St Paul Street, Valletta who was an accredited genealogist and I was actually referred to him by the Public Registry. From then on I have spent years of my time researching my ancestors, because ALL Sultanas link up to Nicola Soltana and Gulia ...
When I first started looking at the Adami Collection Nicola Soltana was actually entered as Nicola Seguna, Seguna was crossed off and Soltana was entered on top of it (some time later). I accepted the explanation that it was a transcription error by Goffredo Adami. Then I realised that his son Pietro was entered by Adami also as Seguna. Was it also a transcription error? Pietro's entry was never corrected to my knowledge.
For years I dismissed the Seguna anomaly and concentrated on the Soltana/Sultana lines to the present day. In June 2009, Professor Charles Savona Ventura ran into a problem with his Savona line. He had Nicola Seguna/Saguna/Sagona married to a Gulia and could not move forward. It struck me odd that I have a Nicola Soltana and a Gulia and the professor had a Nicola Seguna and a Gulia and then remembered that Adami originally had Nicola Seguna and later someone crossed off Seguna and replaced it with Soltana. I sent off an email to Charles Said Vassallo of Libro D'Oro and told him of the coincidence. Within hours there was an update to the Sultana Family Research on Libro D'Oro and I quote: "28 June 2009: Major UPDATE regarding the Origins of SULTANA with the discovery of surname conflict discovered by Godfrey Sultana, and further research discovery have found that the majority of descendants in the Male line are of the Saguna line. Though Sultana name carried through due to a legacy from a grandfather which carried the name and lands given by the Grand Master of Malta to survive in the 16th century". When I questioned where is the source, I was told it was a Notarial Act which was in a private collection. Others have questioned Charles Said Vassallo and I believe got a similar reply.
It is interesting to note that Professor Charles Savona Ventura accepted CSV's explanation and promptly updated his detailed Family Tree to incorporate this "new" Soltana/Sultana connection. Personally I am still searching for some notarial evidence before I will accept CSV's account of the change of surname by Nicola Seguna to Nicola Soltana in order for his wife to keep the lands donated by the Grand Master de Homedes to Giulia's ancestors. Something this important had to be legally recorded through a notary to be effective.
DNA Results:
Back in July 2017 I uploaded my raw data to Stephen Asciak of Malta DNA and Genealogy and this is what he said:
Interesting result for a friend, who is a "SULTANA". I ran through his Ancestry.com raw data, and their paternal line is most likely under ydna haplogroup I2a2. This is indicative of a Germanic origin ... but in terms of Malta, I would say, based on knowing the Sultana/Soltana time frame in Malta from records, I would attribute this individual paternal line connection with Genoese/Germanic origin. This is not saying that the Sultana name itself is of Genoese origin, but that this persons ancestral paternal line indicates this origin. Another Sultana may show a different result. In a further statement Stephen said " .... maybe this individual has a break in his paternal line, where a son took his mother's name and the father was not a Sultana ...."
Personally I know very little about DNA so I am not going to put any interpretation on Stephen's remarks although I think I know what he is trying to say.
Interestingly enough, Prof Charles Savona Ventura also did a DNA and according to MyHeritage.com Charles is my 1st cousin twice removed and/or my 4th cousin (Shared DNA 1.1% (80.8 cM)). Charles has very little information on MyHeritage so I have no idea how we connect through DNA. From the paper trail, Charles Savona Ventura is a very distant cousin, 10th cousin or more, so this DNA connection must be through one of the other peripheral lines and not through the direct line.
Joshua Sultana also connects with me on MyHeritage.com and is a 3 cousin-distant cousin (Shared DNA 0.2% (15.4 cM)).
Conclusion: Without any tangible proof of the story in Libro D'Oro (Malta Genealogy) I will accept the fact that I can only go as far as Nicola Soltana and Giulia ....
Godfrey Sultana
Sydney NSW, Australia
Email: godfrey_sultana@yahoo.com
20 September 2021
I started looking at my Sultana ancestors back in the mid-80's and being in Australia since 1964 did not manage to get very far. In April 1990 I went to Malta for six weeks and spent most of the daytime searching at the Public Registry, talking to relatives and even met in person Chevalier Carmelo Meli at his residence in St Paul Street, Valletta who was an accredited genealogist and I was actually referred to him by the Public Registry. From then on I have spent years of my time researching my ancestors, because ALL Sultanas link up to Nicola Soltana and Gulia ...
When I first started looking at the Adami Collection Nicola Soltana was actually entered as Nicola Seguna, Seguna was crossed off and Soltana was entered on top of it (some time later). I accepted the explanation that it was a transcription error by Goffredo Adami. Then I realised that his son Pietro was entered by Adami also as Seguna. Was it also a transcription error? Pietro's entry was never corrected to my knowledge.
For years I dismissed the Seguna anomaly and concentrated on the Soltana/Sultana lines to the present day. In June 2009, Professor Charles Savona Ventura ran into a problem with his Savona line. He had Nicola Seguna/Saguna/Sagona married to a Gulia and could not move forward. It struck me odd that I have a Nicola Soltana and a Gulia and the professor had a Nicola Seguna and a Gulia and then remembered that Adami originally had Nicola Seguna and later someone crossed off Seguna and replaced it with Soltana. I sent off an email to Charles Said Vassallo of Libro D'Oro and told him of the coincidence. Within hours there was an update to the Sultana Family Research on Libro D'Oro and I quote: "28 June 2009: Major UPDATE regarding the Origins of SULTANA with the discovery of surname conflict discovered by Godfrey Sultana, and further research discovery have found that the majority of descendants in the Male line are of the Saguna line. Though Sultana name carried through due to a legacy from a grandfather which carried the name and lands given by the Grand Master of Malta to survive in the 16th century". When I questioned where is the source, I was told it was a Notarial Act which was in a private collection. Others have questioned Charles Said Vassallo and I believe got a similar reply.
It is interesting to note that Professor Charles Savona Ventura accepted CSV's explanation and promptly updated his detailed Family Tree to incorporate this "new" Soltana/Sultana connection. Personally I am still searching for some notarial evidence before I will accept CSV's account of the change of surname by Nicola Seguna to Nicola Soltana in order for his wife to keep the lands donated by the Grand Master de Homedes to Giulia's ancestors. Something this important had to be legally recorded through a notary to be effective.
DNA Results:
Back in July 2017 I uploaded my raw data to Stephen Asciak of Malta DNA and Genealogy and this is what he said:
Interesting result for a friend, who is a "SULTANA". I ran through his Ancestry.com raw data, and their paternal line is most likely under ydna haplogroup I2a2. This is indicative of a Germanic origin ... but in terms of Malta, I would say, based on knowing the Sultana/Soltana time frame in Malta from records, I would attribute this individual paternal line connection with Genoese/Germanic origin. This is not saying that the Sultana name itself is of Genoese origin, but that this persons ancestral paternal line indicates this origin. Another Sultana may show a different result. In a further statement Stephen said " .... maybe this individual has a break in his paternal line, where a son took his mother's name and the father was not a Sultana ...."
Personally I know very little about DNA so I am not going to put any interpretation on Stephen's remarks although I think I know what he is trying to say.
Interestingly enough, Prof Charles Savona Ventura also did a DNA and according to MyHeritage.com Charles is my 1st cousin twice removed and/or my 4th cousin (Shared DNA 1.1% (80.8 cM)). Charles has very little information on MyHeritage so I have no idea how we connect through DNA. From the paper trail, Charles Savona Ventura is a very distant cousin, 10th cousin or more, so this DNA connection must be through one of the other peripheral lines and not through the direct line.
Joshua Sultana also connects with me on MyHeritage.com and is a 3 cousin-distant cousin (Shared DNA 0.2% (15.4 cM)).
Conclusion: Without any tangible proof of the story in Libro D'Oro (Malta Genealogy) I will accept the fact that I can only go as far as Nicola Soltana and Giulia ....
Godfrey Sultana
Sydney NSW, Australia
Email: godfrey_sultana@yahoo.com
20 September 2021