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ViGiLO - Din l-Art Ħelwa ISSUE 57 • MAY 2022
Fig. 1: A plan of the western fortifications of Valletta and the Floriana lines signed by Brigadier W.B. Tylden, 25 January 1855 (The National Archives: MPHH 1/687).
BURIAL GROUNDS ON THE FLORIANA BASTIONS The Consecration of the Protestant Cemeteries in 1843 By Mike Hinton
O
ne of my 2x great-grandfathers served throughout the Crimean War with the 49th Regiment and it is almost certain he would have stopped at Malta on his way to or back from the Crimea. I first became aware of the Msida Garden of Rest in 2005 and found several tombstones of individuals who were associated with the campaign in one way or another. I have visited the cemetery several times since and
consulted surviving records at The National Archives at Kew. Some documents relate to its consecration—and the consternation this caused the military authorities in London— and on further enquiry, for some of the residents in Malta. This essay summarises the issues which were clearly of importance at the time; though after nearly 180 years some may seem to be little more than an irksome ‘storm in a teacup’.
