[1] He was baptised Mikael Archangelus Joseph in the parish church of Żebbuġ on 30 September 1737, the son of Bartholomew Xerri and his wife Anne.

He participated in an unsuccessful revolt to overthrow French rule under Napoleon Bonaparte; he, together with other locals, was executed on 17 January 1799 at the age of 61.

In June 1798, French forces led by Napoleon Bonaparte took over the islands from the increasingly oppressive rule of the Knights of Malta.

Outraged by the plundering of their churches and faced by an unprecedented financial crisis that had been precipitated by the draining of most of the cash, on September 2, 1798, they rose against the French garrison in Notabile (Città Vecchia or Mdina).

The French forces retreated in the fortified cities around the harbour, while the Maltese petitioned for help from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Great Britain.