The grave of a 19th-century acting lieutenant governor lost to time was reconsecrated on Friday with a new replica monument unveiled atop of it.

The funeral monument of Colonel Henry Anderson Morshead, who served as Malta’s acting lieutenant governor for 18 days was meticulously recreated, after painstaking research conducted by Malta’s heritage foundation Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna. 

CEO and chairman of the foundation Mario Farrugia told Times of Malta last week how Morshead’s grave lay in obscurity for many years until researchers noticed the monument recorded in detail in a lithograph.

Farrugia, who is finalizing the publication of a new book about the man who briefly governed Malta, said that Morshead’s respected career left fruit on the island, with him having undertaken two important surveys of Malta’s coastal fortifications as well as signing into law the act which introduced the concept of a trial by jury into the Maltese legal system.

The two-year journey into researching the monument has had its moments, Farrugia admitted, including several dead ends in locating an image of the Morshead family’s coat of arms and finally making the discovery of the image engraved into some family silverware.

The replica unveiled on Friday is an exact copy of the original that once stood there and was mysteriously dismantled sometime in the late 1940s.

The exact copy of the original monument that once stood there and was mysteriously dismantled sometime in the late 1940s was unveiled on Friday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The inscription, which was read to the crowd by British High Commissioner Cathy Ward said that Morshead’s “endearing qualities” in his private life would always be remembered.

“He was merciful, humane, generous and hospital, grateful of kindness and entirely forgetful of injuries,” it reads.

“The widow of this excellent man erects this monument to his beloved movement and records his virtues for the sake of eleven children who mourn their irreparable loss.”

The grave was blessed by Chancellor of St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral Simon Godfrey. 

Held 191 years to the day since Morshead’s death, the ceremony also coincided with Armistice Day, in which dignitaries also gathered to mark the cessation of hostilities of World War I and honor the service of those who died during the war.

The exhortation was read by retired judge Joseph Galea Debono followed by gun fire from the saluting guns, whose blast roared across the grand harbour as members of the Armed Forces watched solemnly.

Members of the Royal Engineers as well as the crew of the British assault ship HMS Albion, which is currently docked in the grand harbour, were also present for the ceremony.