Queen Emma of Hawaii

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Emma Naʻea
Queen Consort of the Hawaiian Islands
Reign 11 Jan 1855 — 30 Nov 1863
Spouse Alexander Liholiho King Kamehameha IV
Issue
Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha
Full name
Emalani (Emma) Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonalani Naea Rooke
Titles and styles
HM The Queen
HRH The Queen Dowager
Royal house House of Kamehameha
Father High Chief George Naea
Mother High Chieftess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young
Born 2 January 1836(1836-01-02)
Honolulu, Oahu
Died 25 April 1885 (aged 49)
Honolulu, Oahu
Burial Mauna Ala Royal Mausoleum

Emma Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonalani Naea Rooke, Queen Consort of Hawaii (January 2, 1836 – April 25, 1885) was queen to King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She tried to run as Queen against King David Kalakaua.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Emma was born Emalani,[1] and was later Emma Rooke. She was born to High Chief George Naea and High Chieftess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young. She was hanaied (adopted) to her childless maternal aunt, chiefess Grace Kama'iku'i Young Rooke, and her husband, Dr. T.C.B. Rooke. On her birth mother's side, she was the granddaughter of John Young Olohana (Kamehameha the Great's British-born royal advisor and companion) and Princess Ka'oana'eha, the niece of Kamehameha I. On her birth father's side, she was the granddaughter of Prince Keli'imaika'i, the only full blooded brother of Kamehameha. Ka'oana'eha father is disputed some say she was the daughter of Prince Keli'imaika'i other state she was the daughter of High Chief Kaleipaihala-Kalanikuimamao. This confusion is due to the fact that High Chiefess Kaliko'o'kalani married twice to Keli'imaika'i and to Kaleipaihala. Through High Chief Kaleipaihala-Kalanikuimamao she could be descendant of Kalaniʻopuʻu, King of Hawaii before Kiwalaʻo and Kamehameha.

She grew up at her foster parents English Mansion at Honolulu named the Rooke House. Emma was educated in Honolulu at the Royal School, which was established by American missionaries attending the school was also other Hawawaiian royals including her half-sister Paaina. When the school closed, Dr. Rooke hired an English governess, Sarah Rhodes von Pfister, to tutor the young Emma. He also encouraged reading from his extensive library. As a writer, he influenced Emma's interest in reading and books. By the time she was 20 years old, she was a beautiful and accomplished young woman. She was 5' 2", slender, well-proportioned, with large, beautiful black eyes. Her musical talents as a fine vocalist, talented pianist and good dancer were well known. She was also a skilled equestrian.

Despite being a quarter English by blood, her complexion was as fully dark as if she were of unmixed Hawaiian descent, and her features, though refined by education and circumstances, were also Hawaiian.[2]

[edit] Married life and reign

Emma became engaged to the king of Hawaii, Alexander Liholiho. At the engagement party, accusations were made, by a Hawaiian chief, that Emma's Caucasian blood made her not fit to be the Hawaiian queen, and her lineage was not suitable enough to be Alexander Liholiho's bride. Tempers flared, Emma burst into tears, and the party was in shambles. In 1856, she married Alexander Liholiho, who a year earlier had assumed the throne as Kamehameha IV. The young king was tall, handsome, intelligent and well-read. He was also fluent in both Hawaiian and English. Two years later, in 1858, Emma gave birth to a son, Prince Albert Kamehameha.

During her reign, the queen kept herself busy tending to palace affairs, including the expansion of the palace library. Inspired by her father’s work, she also encouraged her husband to establish a public hospital to help the Native Hawaiian population who were in decline due to foreign-borne diseases like smallpox.

[edit] Names

Queen Emma gained the name "Kaleleonalani" after the death of her young son and husband, in remembrance of the "flight of the heavenly ones", as described in her name. In the brief period after her son's death and before her husband's death, she was referred to as "Kaleleokalani", or "flight of the heavenly one".

Queen Emma was also nicknamed "Wahine Hololio" in deference to her renowned horsemanship.

During her reign and after, she was known for her humanitarian efforts.

[edit] Religious legacy

In 1860, Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV petitioned the Church of England to help them establish the Church of Hawaii. Upon the arrival of an Anglican bishop and two priests, they both underwent Christian confirmation in November 1862. She went to England to ask Queen Victoria for funds for the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew. Due to this and to Queen Emma's efforts to build a hospital (now Queen's Hospital), they were honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Their feast day is celebrated annually on November 28.[3]

[edit] Royal Election of 1874

After the death of King Lunalilo, Emma decided to run in the constitutionally-mandated royal election against future king David Kalākaua. She claimed that Lunalilo had wanted her to succeed him in office, but died before a formal proclamation could be made.

The day after Lunalilo died, Kalakaua declared himself candidate for the throne. The next day Queen Emma did the same. The first real animosity between the Kamehamehas and Kalakaua begun to appear. The proclamation that Kalakaua put forth was a dignified one, as published;

" To the Hawaiian Nation."

“Salutations to You--Whereas His Majesty Lunalilo departed this life at the hour of nine o'clock last night; and by his death the Throne of Hawaii is left vacant, and the nation is without a head or a guide. In this juncture it is proper that we should seek for a Sovereign and Leader, and doing so, follow the course prescribed by Article 22nd of the Constitution. My earnest desire is for the perpetuity of the Crown and the permanent independence of the government and people of Hawaii, on the basis of the equity, liberty, prosperity, progress and protection of the whole people. It will be remembered that at the time of the election of the late lamented Sovereign, I put forward my own claim to the Throne of our beloved country, on Constitutional grounds -- and it is upon those grounds only that I now prefer my claims, and call upon you to listen to my call, and request you to instruct your Representatives ro consider, and weigh well, and to regard your choice to elect me, the oldest member of a family high in rank in the country. Therefore, I, David Kalakaua, cheerfully call upon you, and respectfully ask you to grant me your support. "
D. KALAKAUA
Iolani Palace, Feb. 4, 1874.

Her supporters styled themselves as Emmaites and were made up of mostly Hawaiians and British subject of Hawaii.
Her supporters styled themselves as Emmaites and were made up of mostly Hawaiians and British subject of Hawaii.

Queen Emma issued her proclamation the next day;[4]

“To the Hawaiian People:

" Whereas, His late lamented Majesty Lunalilo died on the 3rd of February, 1874, without having publicly proclaimed a Successor to the Throne; and whereas, " His late Majesty did before his final sickness declare his wish and intention that the undersigned should be his Successor on the Throne of the Hawaiian Islands, and enjoined upon me not to decline the same under any circumstances; and whereas. "Many of the Hawaiian people have since the death of His Majesty urged me to place myself in nomination at the ensuing session of the Legislature; " Therefore, in view of the foregoing considerations and my duty to the people and to the memory of the late King, I do hereby announce and declare that I am a Candidate for the Throne of these Hawaiian Islands, and I request my beloved people throughout the group, to assemble peacefully ad orderly in their districts, and to give formal expression to their views on this important subject, and to instruct their Representatives in the coming session of the Legislature. "God Protect Hawaii! "
"Honolulu, Feb. 5, 1874.
EMMA KALELEONALANI. "

Emma's candidacy was agreeable to a large section of the Native Hawaiian population, not only because her husband was a member of the Kamehameha Dynasty, but she was closer in descent to Hawaii's first king, Kamehameha The Great, than her opponent. On foreign policy, she (like her husband) were pro-British while Kalākaua was pro-American. She also strongly wished to stop Hawaii's dependence on American industry and to give the Native Hawaiians a more powerful voice in government. While Emma enjoyed the support of the people, the Legislative Assembly, which was responsible for electing the new monarch, favored Kalākaua, who won the election 39 - 6. News of her defeat caused a large-scale riot, which was eventually dispersed due to the assistance of both British & American troops stationed on warships in Honolulu Harbor.

After the election, she retired from public life. While she would come to recognize Kalākaua as the rightful king, she would never speak with his wife Queen Kapiolani as a result of a family quarrel.

[edit] As Queen Dowager

After the death of her husband and son, she remained a widow for the rest of her life. Known affectionately as the "Old Queen", King Kalakaua always left a seat for her at any royal occasion, even though she would usually never attend. Specific conspicuous events that Emma did not attend were:

  1. Lili'uokalani's birthday celebration at Ali'iolani Hale
  2. Receptions for high foreign officials and guests (including American Admiral Stevens of the U.S.S Pensacola and the new minister of Foreign Affairs)
  3. The laying of the foundation of Lunalilo Home.

Emma would never attend any event that either Lili'uokalani or Kapiolani would attend. This was because Emma had blamed the death of Albert on Queen Kapiolani, who was supposed to the child's governess.

[edit] Death

In 1883, Emma suffered the first of several small strokes and died two years later on April 25, 1885 at the age of 49. She was given a royal funeral and was interred in Mauna 'Ala, next to her husband and son.

[edit] Trivia

  • England’s Queen Victoria remarked of Emma, "Nothing could be nicer or more dignified than her manner."
  • In 1867, she founded the school St. Andrew's Priory, an all-girl's Episcopal day-school.

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. ^ Our Ali'i Heritage
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Church Publishing Company, 2003)
  4. ^ http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/usgenweb/hi/keepers/koc71.txt

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Queen Kalama		 Queen Consort of Hawaiʻi
1856 - 1863		 Succeeded by
Queen Kapiolani
Preceded by
Queen Kalama		 Queen Dowager of Hawaiʻi
1863 - 1885		 Succeeded by
Queen Kapiolani
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