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User:KAVEBEAR/Wedding of Kamehameha IV and Emma Rooke

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Queen Emma and Kamehameha IV, c. 1856
Marriage of Kamehameha IV and Emma Rooke at Kawaiahaʻo Church. Sketch in 1923 by Jessie Shaw Fisher, a mission great-granddaughter, from descriptions by Sanford B. Dole, who, as a boy, had witnessed the event

The wedding of Kamehameha IV and Emma Rooke (later Queen Emma) took place on June 19, 1856 at Kawaiahaʻo Church in Honolulu during the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Background

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Kamehameha IV ascended to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom on January 11, 1855, after the death of his uncle Kamehameha III.[1]

In July 1855, Kamehameha IV announced to his Privy Council of State his intent to marry Emma Rooke. He initially intended to hold his wedding in January 1856 but later amended the date to the third Thursday of June.[2][3][4]

However, according to Liliʻuokalani, certain elements of the court argued "there is no other chief equal to you in birth and rank but the adopted daughter of Paki,"[5]

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The American Commissioner to Hawaii, David L. Gregg, wrote of the announcement in his diary, on May 19, 1856, including the opposition by Caesar Kapaʻakea and Joshua Kaʻeo: "Learned from Kaea [Ka'eo] and Pakea that the King to-day announces his contemplated marriage in Privy. It is to take place in June, about the third Thursday. Although the former is the uncle of Emma Rooke, and the latter her cousin, both of them expressed their objections to the arrangement, because it was not equal in point of dignity. Kaeo said that his niece Emma was a good girl and he was glad she was going to marry the King, though her rank was [not] as high as it ought to be for a Queen. Pakea [sic] was more unequivocal in his condemnation of the match. He expressed his opinion that his daughter Lydia Paki was more eligible, but declared that if neither the King nor any high chief thought proper to marry her, he would have her married to some good white man, which after all might be much more for her good."[6][7]


This infuriated the King and brought the Queen to tears. Despite this upset, Liliʻuokalani was regarded as a close friend of the new Queen, and she served as a maid of honor during the royal wedding alongside Princess Victoria Kamāmalu and Mary Pitman.[8][9][10]

Wedding

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Bishop Museum archivist DeSoto Brown noted: "To mark the occasion – Queen Victoria of Great Britain sent Emma a veil, which she wore on her wedding day. And the bride most likely was dressed in a white wedding dress."[11]

 
Kawaiahaʻo Church, c. 1857

American missionary Richard Armstrong, who previously served as Minister of Public Instruction during Kamehameha III's reign, officiated the wedding ceremony.

[12]


Ceremony set at 11 o'clock. Kawaiahaʻo Church, largest building in Honolulu, interiors were adorned with flowers.

A large temporary platform, where the altar was situated, was erected in front of the pulpit of the church, high enough for spectators to witness the ceremony. This platform was decorated with cushions and silks of scarlet and gold.[9][10]


The road from palace to church was lined with thrush

The king and his brother Prince Lot Kamehameha sat the head carriage of the head of a cortege of carriages.

The king's aides-de-camp and Captain Ford's cavalry accompanied on horseback while the procession was flanked by kāhili bearers.

Salutes fired from palace, harbor battery and French brig of war Alcibiades.


Many of the soldiers and spectators prostrated themselves as the royal carriages passed by.

This symbolic act honors the kapu moe, a traditional prerogative of the Hawaiian aliʻi.

Members of the Hulumanu took off their outer garment and threw it at the feet of the horses as they passed by.

Armstrong read the Episcopal marriage service in both Hawaiian and English.

Dr. Rooke gave away the bride.


The Polynesian reported that the dress "offered unmistakable evidence of its Parisian origin" while the "veil was of Brussels point lace". The veil was crowned by a wreath of roses and orange flowers while she wore a set of diamond


Returning to the palace, the newly wedded couple received the well wishes of their subjects and foreign dignitaries.

These included Captain de Marigney of the Alcibiade, the French Commissioner Perrin, representing the Diplomatic Corps; the Danish Consul L. H. Anthon, representing the Consulars Corps; and members of the House of Nobles and Privy Council.


Prince Lot arranged the following celebration ball and dinner at the palace. Guests ate dinner outside the palace ground in a circular tent. Four to five hundred guests attended the evening ball at the palace where the first quadrille were led by Emma and Kamehameha IV.

[9]

PCA

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48745049/marriage-of-his-majesty-kamehameha-iv/

[10]

 
ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu, c. 1857



The legislature appropriated 2,500 for the wedding and the wedding tour.[13]



[14][15]

Aftermath

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Emma and Kamehameha IV bore their only son, Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha, on May 20, 1858. He was proclaimed the Prince of Hawaii or (Ka Haku o Hawaii) by the Privy Council of State. Queen Victoria was Prince Albert's godmother (by proxy) at his christening. However, he died at the age of four on August 27, 1862.[16]

Their most important legacy was the establishment of the Anglican Church of Hawaii and the Queen's Hospital in 1859.[17]


Historian George Kanahele noted:

The Kamehamehas, who ruled the islands for four generations, are renowned for their social and political advancements in the lives of their people. Of all the aliʻi, Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV probably inspired the greatest personal admiration within their kingdom and beyond.[18]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Kuykendall 1965, p. 427.
  2. ^ Kanahele 1999, pp. 57–59.
  3. ^ Hawaii. Minutes of the Privy Council, 1854–1855 (in Hawaiian and English). Honolulu: Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, William S. Richardson School of Law. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. ^ Hawaii. Minutes of the Privy Council, 1856–1858 (in Hawaiian and English). Honolulu: Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, William S. Richardson School of Law. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  5. ^ Liliuokalani 1898, p. 12
  6. ^ Gregg 1982, pp. 316–317.
  7. ^ Kanahele 1999, pp. 60–61.
  8. ^ Allen 1982, pp. 81–84; Kanahele 1999, pp. 60–62
  9. ^ a b c The Polynesian, June 21, 1856
  10. ^ a b c The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 2, 1856
  11. ^ KHON2 2011.
  12. ^ Dole 1920, p. 104.
  13. ^ The Polynesian, June 14, 1856
  14. ^ The Polynesian, November 15, 1856
  15. ^ The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 20, 1856
  16. ^ Kuykendall 1953, pp. 83–85, 91, 94–95.
  17. ^ Judd 1975, pp. 74–77.
  18. ^ Kanahele 1999, p. 59.

Bibliography

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Books and journals

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  • Emma Rooke on June 19, 1856, set off a round of social events in the foreign community. The Chinese merchants’ turn to honor their majesties came on November 13. Invitations were shamelessly sought after and the sponsors decided to accommodate all those who wanted to attend. Afong and other leading merchants raised $3,700 from Chinese businessmen at Lahaina and Honolulu to ensure the event’s success. The haole chef at the Chinese-owned Canton Hotel roasted six sheep and 150 chickens and prepared most of the other dishes, but the Chinese merchants themselves prepared the pastries and sweetmeats. When the guests (perhaps a thousand people over the evening) arrived, they were greeted by hosts dressed in formal Chinese gowns. The opening dance was a polonaise. Leading the dancers to the floor was lovely Queen Emma, escorted by the handsome and urbane Yung Sheong, who spoke excellent English. Afong partnered the marshal’s wife. The Advertiser editor grumbled that the crowd was “excessive” and the invitees an “indiscriminate assemblage of all Honolulu” but added, “If their efforts are an indication of their hearts, they as yet stand far above us outside barbarians in our efforts to ‘honor the king.’”[1]

Newspapers

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  • "Civil List". The Polynesian. Vol. XIII, no. 6. Honolulu. June 14, 1856. p. 2. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  • "His Majesty's Marriage". The Polynesian. Vol. XIII, no. 7. Honolulu. June 21, 1856. p. 2. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  • "Marriage Of His Majesty Kamehameha IV". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Vol. 1, no. 1. Honolulu. July 2, 1856. Image 2, col. 4. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  • "The Chinese Ball". The Polynesian. Vol. XIII, no. 28. Honolulu. November 15, 1856. p. 2. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  • "The Chinese Ball". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Vol. 1, no. 21. Honolulu. November 20, 1856. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  1. ^ Dye 2010, p. 24.
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