Member Supreme Council of Justice
One of the five dignitaries who first was admitted to the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George at the first investiture on 16 December 1818 was Dr Raffaele Crispino Xerri, member of the Supreme Council of Justice. He was invested with two other Maltese, Knight Grand Cross (GCMG).
Xerri was born during the early years of the rule of Grandmaster Pinto. He become a lawyer in 1766, and for over 35 years he held some of the highest judicial appointments. He was a judge of the Castellania, and in 1778 was raised to Uditore - legal adviser to the Grandmaster, which he fulfilled for 19 years. He was also a Judge of the Siniscallia, of the Prize Court and other tribunals.
Under the British Rule, Xerri was the first Legal Adviser to the Congregazione of the Monte di Pietà, and some years later he was elected its President. He was appointed one of the first members of Sir Thomas Maitland’s new Supreme Council of Justice.
On his retirement in 1824 with the title of ‘Extraordinary Member of the Supreme Council of Justice’, Marquis of Hastings recorded in public notice the high sense His Excellency entertained of the meritorious services of Sir Ralph Crispin Xerri, because during a period of 40 years he elevated judicial situations the duties of which he discharged with ability and integrity commanding universal applause.
A royal warrant signed by King George IV, dated 5 April 1828, empowered Sir Raffaele Xerri to invest Major General Ponsonby as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order. Xerri, who was in his eighties, had retired as a member of the Supreme Council of Justice but remained an Extraordinary Member. The King’s warrant to Sir Raffaele Xerri reads> ‘... and whereas in consequence of our absence from our said Island of Malta the ceremony of investing the said Major General Ponsonby cannot personally be performed by Us... We... do hereby authorize and require you... to proceed in Our name and in Our behalf to the ceremonial of the Investiture of the said Major General Ponsonby’.
This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.