Queen Emma of Hawaii
Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke was queen of Hawaii as the wife of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She was later known for being a humanitarian, establishing a hospital, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the throne. For her missionary activities she is venerated as a holy woman in the American Episcopal Church.
Names
After her son's death and before her husband's death, she was referred to as "Kaleleokalani", or "flight of the heavenly one". After her husband also died, it was changed into the plural form as "Kaleleonālani", or the "flight of the heavenly ones". She was baptized into the Anglican faith on October 21, 1862, as "Emma Alexandrina Francis Agnes Lowder Byde Rooke Young Kaleleokalani.Queen Emma was also honoured in the 19th century mele "Wahine Holo Lio" referring to her renowned horsemanship.
Early life
Emma was born on January 2, 1836, in Honolulu and was often called Emalani. Her father was High Chief George Naʻea and her mother was High Chiefess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young. She was adopted under the Hawaiian tradition of hānai by her childless maternal aunt, chiefess Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke, and her husband, Thomas C. B. Rooke.Emma's father Naʻea was the son of High Chief Kamaunu and High Chiefess Kukaeleiki. Kukaeleiki was daughter of Kalauawa, a Kauaʻi noble, and she was a cousin of Queen Keōpūolani, the most sacred wife of Kamehameha I. Among Naʻea's more notable ancestors were Kalanawaʻa, a high chief of Oʻahu, and High Chiefess Kuaenaokalani, who held the sacred kapu rank of Kekapupoʻohoʻolewaikala.
On her mother's side, Emma was the granddaughter of John Young, Kamehameha I's British-born military advisor known as High Chief Olohana, and Princess Kaʻōanaʻeha Kuamoʻo. Her maternal grandmother, Kaʻōanaʻeha, was generally called the niece of Kamehameha I. Chiefess Kaʻōanaʻeha's father is disputed; some say she was the daughter of Prince Keliʻimaikaʻi, the only full brother of Kamehameha; others say Kaʻōanaʻeha's father was High Chief Kalaipaihala. This confusion is due to the fact that High Chiefess Kalikoʻokalani, the mother of Kaʻōanaʻeha, married both Keliʻimaikaʻi and Kalaipaihala. Through High Chief Kalaipaihala, she could be descended from Kalaniʻopuʻu, King of Hawaii before Kīwalaʻō and Kamehameha. King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani criticized Queen Emma's claim of descent from Kamehameha's brother, supporting the latter theory of descent. Liliʻuokalani claimed that Keliʻimaikaʻi had no children, and that Kiilaweau, Keliʻimaikaʻi's first wife, was a man. This was to strengthen their claim to the throne, since their great-grandfather was Kamehameha I's first cousin. But even on the second theory, Queen Emma would still have been a descendant of Kamehameha I's first cousin since Kalaniʻopuʻu was the uncle of Kamehameha I. It can be noted that one historian of the time, Samuel Kamakau, supported Queen Emma's descent from Keliʻimaikaʻi and the genealogy stated by Liliuokalani was contested in her own lifetime.
Emma grew up in her adoptive parents' English mansion, the Rooke House, in Honolulu. Emma was educated at the Royal School, established by American missionaries. Other Hawaiian royals attending the school included Emma's half-sister Mary Paʻaʻāina. Like her classmates Bernice Pauahi Bishop, David Kalākaua and Lydia Liliʻuokalani, Emma was cross-cultural—both Hawaiian and Euro-American in her habits. When the school closed, Rooke hired an English governess, Sarah Rhodes von Pfister, to tutor 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, she was quite accomplished. She was 5' 2" and slender, with large black eyes. Her musical talents as a vocalist, pianist, and dancer were well known. She was also a skilled equestrian.
Married life and reign
Emma became engaged to the King of Hawaii, Alexander Liholiho. At the engagement party, a Hawaiian charged that Emma's European blood made her unfit to be the Hawaiian queen and her lineage was not suitable enough to be Alexander Liholiho's bride. She broke into tears and the King was infuriated. On June 19, 1856, she married Alexander Liholiho, who a year earlier had assumed the throne as Kamehameha IV. He was also fluent in both Hawaiian and English. Each nation and even the Chinese hosted balls and celebrations in honor of the newlyweds. On May 20, 1858, Emma gave birth to a son, Prince Albert Edward Kamehameha.The Queen tended palace affairs, including the expansion of the palace library. In 1861, she sang in the chorus of a performance of Verdi's opera Il Trovatore in Honolulu while her husband acted as stage manager. She was known for her humanitarian efforts. Inspired by her adoptive father's work, she encouraged her husband to establish a public hospital to help the Native Hawaiians who were in decline due to foreign-borne diseases like smallpox. In 1859, Emma established Queen's Hospital and visited patients there almost daily whenever she was in residence in Honolulu. It is now called the Queen's Medical Center. She also founded St. Andrewʻs Priory school for girls. Queen Emma recognized the educational needs of the young women of Hawaiʻi and founded St. Andrew's Priory so that Hawaiian girls would receive an education equivalent to what was traditionally offered to boys.
In 1860, Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV entertained a group of Japanese diplomats who were stopping in Honolulu on their way to Washington. These men were part of the Japanese Embassy to the United States, Japan's first diplomatic mission to the United States since the 1854 opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew Perry. Their meeting with Queen Emma, Princess Victoria, and the queen's ladies-in-waiting was the first time these men had seen women in Western crinoline dress and also the first time they bowed to a queen.
Prince Albert, who was always called "Baby" by Emma, had been celebrated for days at his birth and every public appearance. Mary Allen, wife of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Elisha Hunt Allen, had a son Frederick about the same age, and they became playmates. In 1862, Queen Victoria agreed to become godmother by proxy, and sent an elaborate silver christening cup. Before the cup could arrive, the prince fell ill in August and his condition worsened. The Prince died on August 27, 1862. Her husband died a year later, and Emma had no more children.
Establishment of the Church of Hawaii
In 1860, Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV petitioned the Church of England to help establish the Church of Hawaii. Upon the arrival of Anglican bishop Thomas Nettleship Staley and two priests, Emma and Kamehameha were both baptized on October 21, 1862, and confirmed in November 1862. With her husband, she championed the Anglican church in Hawaii and founded St. Andrew's Cathedral, raising funds for the building. In 1867 she founded Saint Andrew's Priory School for Girls. She also laid the groundwork for an Episcopal secondary school for boys originally named for Saint Alban, and later ʻIolani School in honor of her husband.Visit to Europe and United States, 1865–1866
From 1865 to 1866, she traveled to England and the United States for her health and to help the burgeoning Anglican mission in Hawaii. She visited London and spent the winter at Hyères in the French Riviera and then toured Northern Italy and Southern Germany before visiting Paris. She returned to London in June 1866 and went sightseeing in Ireland before sailing for New York. In her time in Europe, she met with Queen Victoria, Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie of France, and King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who unsuccessfully proposed to Emma, and Grand Duke Frederick I and Grand Duchess Louise of Baden and other Europeans royals, government dignitaries and Anglican clergy.In the United States, she had a reception given for her on August 14, 1866, by President Andrew Johnson and First Lady Eliza McCardle Johnson at the White House. Some note this as the first time anyone with the title "Queen" had had an official visit to the U.S. presidential residence. Secretary of State William H. Seward hosted the Queen at his house and gave her a state dinner on August 18. The following evening she attended a private dinner at the White House with the president, his family and Seward. While in Washington, she also met the Choctaw chief Peter Pitchlynn and his country's delegation, along with delegations of Chickasaw and Cherokee. After visiting Washington, she visited Niagara Falls at the end of August 1866. She then headed directly to Québec City where she stayed at the St Louis Hotel. Two hours after settling in the hotel she received the news, via telegram, of her hānai mother Grace's death in Hawaii on July 26. This prompted her to end her Canadian trip immediately and journey home. On her return trip she traveled from New York to Panama and then California. In San Francisco, the United States government dispatched the USS Vanderbilt to bring her back to Honolulu by October 22.
A pamphlet Queen Emma: A Narrative of the Object of Her Mission to England describing her travel and mission in England was published anonymously in London in December 1865. American missionary Samuel C. Damon re-published this in his newspaper The Friend in June 1866 and pointed out some errors in the work.
Royal election of 1874
After the death of King Lunalilo, Emma decided to run in the constitutionally mandated royal election against future King Kalākaua. She claimed that Lunalilo had wanted her to succeed him, but died before a formal proclamation could be made.The day after Lunalilo died, Kalākaua declared himself a candidate for the throne. The next day Queen Emma did the same. The first real animosity between the Kamehamehas and Kalākaua begun to appear, as he published a proclamation:
Queen Emma issued her proclamation the next day:
Emma's candidacy was agreeable to many Native Hawaiians, not only because her husband was a member of the Kamehameha Dynasty, but because she was also closer in descent to Hawaii's first King, Kamehameha the Great, than her opponent. On foreign policy, she was pro-British, while Kalākaua, although pro-Hawaiian and somewhat pro-British, leaned more toward the Americans. She also strongly wished to stop Hawaii's dependence on US industry and give Native Hawaiians a more powerful voice in government. The people supported Emma, but the Legislative Assembly, which actually elected the monarch, favored Kalākaua, who won the election, 39 – 6. News of her defeat caused a large-scale riot in which 13 legislators supporting Kalākaua were injured; one, J. W. Lonoaea, died of his injuries.
To quell the civil unrest, US and British troops stationed on warships in Honolulu Harbor landed with the Hawaiian government's permission, and rioters were arrested.
After the election, Emma retired from public life. She came to recognize Kalākaua as the rightful king, but never spoke to his wife, Queen Kapiʻolani.
She was known affectionately as the "Old Queen". King Kalākaua left a seat for her at any royal occasion, even though she rarely attended.