Ginny Smith fronts a new documentary that follow the life of 19th Century abolitionist, Moncure ConwayCharles Davies

For nearly 90 years, the niche facing the entryway stood empty.

It was purpose-built – designed, when the new Conway Hall was built, to house the bust of its namesake, Moncure Conway. A 19th Century writer, abolitionist, and freethinker, he served as the inspiration for the Conway Hall Ethical Society. But when the society moved to their new hall in 1928, his bronze likeness somehow went missing.

“Our best guess is that everything got put into storage while they were in the process of moving, and it either got broken during the move, or it got nicked from the storage facility – or somehow just got lost. I know from having moved house myself how easy it is to lose things in the process!” Ginny Smith laughs.

Smith, a producer for The Naked Scientists on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and a Cambridge alumnus, is the presenter of a new documentary charting the search for the bust. Describing the process as a learning experience, Smith admits to me “I hadn’t even heard of Conway – so my American history is quite poor I must say! I learnt a lot about that kind of time that I didn’t know before – it was absolutely fascinating.”

“We talked to a few people about this and we don't really know why he didn’t get written into history”

Not that Conway is the most high-profile name in US history. Born in 1832 to a wealthy slave-owning father and a homeopathy-practising mother, he rebelled against their beliefs. In his twenties, he became a Methodist minister preaching anti-slavery sermons. Later, during the American Civil War, he travelled to London to rally support for the Union. After his outspokenness backfired, angering the US government, he remained in the UK.

Conway spent the rest of his life as a freethinking writer and speaker. He was associated with many of the notable people of his era: he had connections to Dickens, Tennyson, and Browning; was friends with Darwin; and acted as the British literary agent for Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. Yet despite his closeness to the historical limelight, his story and legacy remain largely unknown.

“We talked to a few people about this and we don't really know why he didn’t get written into history”, Smith explains. “Perhaps he was a bit too behind the scenes?” she continues, speculating. “Or perhaps it was being American, and then spending time in the UK, and then going back to America - he kind of missed out on the British history, and then missed out on the American somehow!”

Conway’s forgotten story is poignantly symbolised by the overlooked niche in his Hall. It was not until Jim Walsh, CEO of Conway Hall Ethical Society, and staff member Sophie Hawkey-Edwards uncovered the phrase ‘bust committee’ in some old records that they realised what was missing.

A little detective work by Smith’s producer Trent Burton revealed that the original bronze was actually one of three, she tells me, noting that “the fact that there were three busts was a complete surprise – no-one was expecting that.” After that came “a lot of reading, researching, trying to follow this trail that was finding that these other two busts existed, and then trying to follow the trail forwards to where they ended up.”

But why spend so much time on a single missing statue – a tribute to an interesting but esoteric figure?

Smith believes Conway’s life and philosophy can still teach us much today: “He was a feminist, he was very pro-women’s rights and voting, and he introduced female speakers at his speaking engagements. He was an abolitionist, and really into critical thinking and reason and evidence, all these kind of things that are so important in today’s climate.”

“He certainly wasn’t afraid of treading on people’s toes to do what he believed was the right thing,” she elaborates. “I think Conway is someone who should be recognised and remembered, and particularly in the post-truth society, people who believe in rational enquiry and liberal thinking and independent intellectual thought need to be forefront in our minds as much as possible.”

“The story’s got a bit of something for everyone. It’s got a bit of history, it’s got a bit of technology and science, it’s got the mystery angle”

The documentary features an unexpected finale that involves state-of-the-art 3D printing to recreate the bust: a fitting choice for the man. “Conway loved new technology; he was fascinated by this sort of thing”, Smith says with a smile. “We think that if he was alive today he would have absolutely loved the fact that he had been 3D printed.”

Thanks to the producers, Conway has returned to his rightful place, overseeing those who enter his Hall. And the film aims to revive his legacy of science, enquiry, and rational thinking. “The story’s got a bit of something for everyone. It’s got a bit of history, it’s got a bit of technology and science, it’s got the mystery angle,” Smith reveals.

Has she too been inspired by Moncure Conway? “Yeah, I think so. Sometimes it feels like there’s so much stuff going on and there’s nothing you can do to change anything. But Conway was one person, and he did quite incredible things.”

The Empty Niche: The Long Lost Bust of Moncure Conway will be released on Youtube on 25th February 2017