Was Lord Strickland, Malta’s fourth prime minister, a freemason? Who exactly was Terinu, the man who falsely claimed he had seen Strickland at a freemasons’ dinner? Who was behind the plot? Had Strickland been excommunicated? And what was his clash with the Church in the 1930s all about?
In his new stand-alone volume Lord Strickland: Plots and Intrigue in Colonial Malta, published by Kite Group, Victor Aquilina explores in depth Strickland’s burning issues during his turbulent political life from the time Malta was given its first self-government constitution in 1921 up to his death in 1940.
Lord Strickland. The picture is by Alessandro Bossano, a high society photographer in Victorian London.He also goes into Strickland’s work as chief secretary to the government in Malta, and, later, as governor in the Caribbean and three Australian states (Tasmania, Western Australia, and New South Wales). The work is meant to insert in the body of criticism against Strickland a sense of balance and to put him in a better light in the island’s political history.
Strickland’s work is best understood if it is firmly anchored in the context of his time, when the British Empire was still very much part of the world order.
Mr Aquilina says: “Strickland showed his mettle in fighting for Malta’s political rights when, after the revocation of the constitution in 1936, he fearlessly accused the British government in one of his most passionate speeches ever that its move was a slur on the honour of England – not a light accusation to make in the House of Lords. Strickland argued that, before the revocation of the constitution, the island had already been enjoying a quasi-dominion status, and that the rights of the Maltese to no interruption of representative government, at least, were unassailable”.
Strickland fought for equality of rights and had also stood up for Malta when he was a member of the House of Commons, representing Westmorland. Since Strickland was born of an English father (his mother was Maltese), he was easy prey for his political rivals as they could easily interpret many of his moves, in and out of office, as favouring Protestantism.
A number of false claims were carefully crafted by his rivals over time to put him in a bad light, particularly – the most damaging of all – that he was a Freemason, which he was not.
The book which carries a rare picture of Terinu (Ettore Bono), maps out in great detail Strickland’s bitter clash with the Church.
What stands out in the struggle was the Vatican’s call for the peaceful elimination of Strickland from politics, a stand considered so outrageous that London accused the Vatican of interfering in the political affairs of the British colony.
Strickland claimed that, as in the case of Terinu’s false claim, the assassination attempt on his life in June 1930 was yet another plot hatched against him by his political rivals.
Impatient, tiresome, cantankerous, highly litigious, and often unpredictable, Strickland’s difficult character stood out, but as one constitutional expert remarked, what his critics generally overlooked was that, as well as being aggressive, he was also extremely astute and an experienced politician with an extraordinary tenacity of purpose.
His problem, as seen by his closest aides, was that he had tried to put the clock forward too fast.
Copies available today at Times of Malta offices in Mrieħel
Copies of Lord Strickland: Plots and Intrigue in Colonial Malta by Victor Aquilina will be available today at the Big Winter Book Sale organised by Times of Malta. New titles published by Kite Group will be available for sale including Black Monday, A Night of Mob Violence which comes with a limited edition reprint, signed and numbered of The Times which was published on October 16, 1979.
Book launch with a difference
Lord Strickland: Plots and Intrigue in Colonial Malta is to be launched on December 5 at Villa Bologna, Attard. The launch includes a tour of the villa, taking in Lord Strickland’s study as well. Attendance is by registration (info@kitegroup.com.mt).