Robert Crichton Wyllie
Robert Crichton Wyllie was born October 13, 1798 in an area called Hazelbank in Dunlop parish of East Ayrshire, Scotland. His father was Alexander Wyllie and his mother was Janet Crichton.
He earned a medical diploma by the time he was 20. In 1844, he arrived in Hawaiʻi and stayed in the Hawaiian Islands for the rest of his life.
Wyllie first worked as acting British Consul. During this time he compiled in-depth reports on the conditions in the islands. Attracted by Wyllie’s devotion to the affairs of Hawaiʻi, on March 26, 1845, King Kamehameha III appointed him the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Kamehameha IV reappointed all the ministers who were in office when Kamehameha III died, including Robert C. Wyllie as Minister of Foreign Relations. Wyllie served as Minister of Foreign Relations from 1845 until his death in 1865, serving under Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V.
Within five years after taking the helm of the office he had negotiated treaties with Denmark, England, France and the United States whereby Hawaiʻi’s status as an independent state was agreed.
Wyllie eventually gave up his allegiance to Queen Victoria and became a naturalized Hawaiian subject.
In 1847, Wyllie started collecting documents to form the Archives of Hawaii. He requested the commander of the fort in Honolulu and all the chiefs to send in any papers they might have. Two of the oldest documents included the 1790 letter of Captain Simon Metcalf and a letter by Captain George Vancouver dated 1792.
The foundation of the Archives of Hawaiʻi today are based almost entirely upon the vast, voluminous collections of letters and documents prepared and stored away by Wyllie.
Wyllie built a house in Nuʻuanu Valley he called Rosebank. He entertained foreign visitors at the house, and the area today still has several consular buildings.
In his role in foreign affairs, Wyllie was seen as a counter to the American influence. Wyllie wrote in the early part of 1857, “There are two grand principles that we aspire to; the first is that all nations should agree to respect our independence and consider the Archipelago strictly neutral in all wars that may arise – and the second is, to have one identical Treaty with all nations.” (Kuykendall)
Of these two principles, the second was auxiliary to the first. Wyllie’s great ambition was to set up some permanent barrier against any possible threat to Hawaii’s national independence. He had a clear idea as to the direction from which danger was most likely to come. (Kuykendall)
In the latter part of 1857 he wrote, “If we be left to struggle for political life, under our own weakness and inability to keep up an adequate military and naval force, in the natural course of things, the Islands must sooner or later be engulfed into the Great American Union, in which case, in time of war, the United States would be able to sweep the whole Northern Pacific.” (Kuykendall)
Wyllie, above all other men in Hawaiʻi, succeeded in compelling the powers to maintain an attitude of “hands off”, leaving the kingdom in the list of independent nations. (Taylor)
In March 1853, he bought a plantation on Hanalei Bay on the north shore of the island of Kauaʻi. In 1860, he hosted his friends King Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma and their two-year-old son, Prince Albert, at his estate for several weeks. In honor of the child, Wyllie named the plantation the “Barony de Princeville”, the City of the Prince (Princeville.)
Originally the land was planted with coffee; eventually it was planted with sugarcane. Princeville became a ranch in 1895, when missionary son Albert S Wilcox bought the plantation.
A bachelor all his life, Wyllie died October 19, 1865 at the age of 67; Kamehameha V and the chiefs ordered the casket containing his remains be buried at Mauna ʻAla, the Royal Mausoleum, adjacent to those of the sovereigns and chiefs of Hawaiʻi.
Members of Queen Emma’s family are also interred in the crypt with Mr. Wyllie: Queen Emma’s mother, Kekelaokalani; her hānai parents, Grace Kamaikui and Dr. Thomas Charles Byde Rooke; her uncles, Bennett Namakeha and Keoni Ana John Young II; her aunt, Jane Lahilahi; and her two cousins, Prince Albert Edward Kunuiakea and Peter Kekuaokalani.
Kaʻahumanu’s Coffin
While on a trip to the continent, Queen Kamāmalu (age 22) died on July 8, 1824; King Kamehameha II (Liholiho, age 27) died six days later on July 14, 1824. (Prior to his death he asked to return and be buried in Hawai‘i.)
Upon their arrival in Hawai‘i, in consultation between the Kuhina Nui (former Queen Kaʻahumanu) and other high chiefs, and telling them about Westminster Abbey and the underground burial crypts they had seen there, it was decided to build a mausoleum building.
In 1825, Pohukaina (translated as “Pohu-ka-ʻāina” (the land is quiet and calm)) was constructed on what is now the grounds of ʻIolani Palace to house the remains of Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and Queen Kamāmalu.
The mausoleum was a small 18 x 24-foot Western style structure made of white-washed coral blocks with a thatched roof; it had no windows. Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu were buried on August 23, 1825.
About this same time, April 25, 1825, Richard Charlton arrived in the Islands to serve as the first British consul. He had been in London during Kamehameha II’s visit in 1824.
Nearly 10-years later, in 1832, Kaʻahumanu died; her death took place at ten minutes past 3 o’clock on the morning of June 5, “after an illness of about 3 weeks in which she exhibited her unabated attachment to the Christian teachers and reliance on Christ, her Saviour.” (Hiram Bingham)
The Kaʻahumanu services were performed by Bingham. After the sermon in Hawaiian, he addressed the foreigners present and the mission family. After the close of the services, the procession was again formed and walked to Pohukaina, where the body was deposited, with the remains of others in the Royal family. (The Friend, June 1932)
The above helps set the stage for subsequent events that happened there.
Nearly 10-years later, in 1840, Charlton made a claim for several parcels of land in Honolulu. At the time the lease was made, Kaʻahumanu was Kuhina Nui and only she and the king could make such grants. The land was Kaʻahumanu’s in the first place, and Kalanimoku certainly could not give it away. (Hawaiʻi State Archives) The dispute dragged on for years.
This, and other grievances purported by Charlton and the British community in Hawai‘i, led to the landing of George Paulet on February 11, 1843.
He noted in a letter to the King, “I have the honor to notify you that Her Britannic Majesty’s ship Carysfort, under my command, will be prepared to make an immediate attack upon this town at 4 pm tomorrow (Saturday) in the event of the demands now forwarded by me to the King of these islands not being complied with by this time.”
On February 25, the King acceded to his demands. Under the terms of the new government the King and his advisers continued to administer the affairs of the Hawaiian population.
It soon became clear that Paulet had no intention of limiting his rule to the affairs of foreigners. New taxes were imposed, liquor laws were relaxed. Paulet refused to restore the old laws. After raising multiple objections to the actions by Paulet, Judd resigned from the commission on May 11. (Daws)
Fearing that Paulet would seize some of the archives and other national records, Gerrit P Judd took them from the government house, and secretly placed them in the royal tomb at Pohukaina. He used the mausoleum as his office.
By candlelight, using the coffin of Kaʻahumanu for a table, Judd prepared appeals to London and Washington to free Hawaiʻi from the illegal rule of Paulet.
Dispatches were sent off in canoes from distant points of the island; and once, when the king’s signature was required, he came down in a schooner and landed at Waikīkī, read and signed the prepared documents, and was on his way back across the channel, while Paulet was dining and having a pleasant time with his friends. (Laura F Judd)
For about five months the islands were under the rule of the British commission set up by Lord George Paulet. Queen Victoria, on learning these activities, immediately sent an envoy to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers. Finally, Admiral Richard Thomas arrived in the Islands on July 26, 1843 to restore the kingdom to Kamehameha III.
Then, on July 31, 1843, Thomas declared the end of the Provisional Cession and recognizes Kamehameha III as King of the Hawaiian Islands and the Islands to be independent and sovereign; the Hawaiian flag was raised. This event is referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, and it is celebrated each year in the approximate site of the 1843 ceremonies, Thomas Square.
Nearly 20-years later, Pohukaina was the final resting place for the Hawaiʻi’s Kings and Queens, and important chiefs of the kingdom. Reportedly, in 1858, Kamehameha IV brought over the ancestral remains of other Aliʻi – coffins and even earlier grave material – out of their original burial caves, and they are buried in Pohukaina.
In 1865, the remains of 21-Ali‘i were removed from Pohukaina and transferred in a torchlight procession at night to Mauna ‘Ala, a new Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu Valley. In a speech delivered on the occasion of the laying of the Cornerstone of The Royal Palace (ʻIolani Palace,) Honolulu, in 1879, JH Kapena, Minister of Foreign Relations, said:
“Doubtless the memory is yet green of that never-to-be-forgotten night when the remains of the departed chiefs were removed to the Royal Mausoleum in the valley.”
“Perhaps the world had never witnessed a procession more weird and solemn than that which conveyed the bodies of the chiefs through our streets, accompanied on each side by thousands of people until the mausoleum was reached, the entire scene and procession being lighted by large kukui torches, while the midnight darkness brought in striking relief the coffins on their biers.”
“Earth has not seen a more solemn procession what when, in the darkness of the night, the bodies of these chieftains were carried through the streets”. (Hawaiian Gazette, January 14, 1880)
In order that the location of Pohukaina not be forgotten, a mound was raised to mark the spot. After being overgrown for many years, the Hawaiian Historical Society passed a resolution in 1930 requesting Governor Lawrence Judd to memorialize the site with the construction of a metal fence enclosure and a plaque.
Mauna ‘Ala
During the reign of Kamehameha IV, there was talk of building a new royal mausoleum (at the time, Hawaiʻi’s ruling chiefs were buried in the crypt enclosure on the ʻIolani Palace grounds, known as Pohukaina, sometimes called ‘the mound’.)
His death on November 30, 1863 was the impetus needed to begin the construction of a new chapel; it was completed in January 1864 and a State funeral was held for Kamehameha IV on February 3, 1864.
Mauna ‘Ala is the resting place for many of Hawai‘i’s royalty. (Mauna ‘Ala means “fragrant mountain.”) On October 19, 1865, the Royal Mausoleum chapel was completed.
RC Wyllie, Hawaiʻi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, was buried with a State funeral in the Royal Mausoleum on October 29, 1865.
The next night, October 30, 1865, the remains of 21 Ali‘i were removed from Pohukaina at ‘Iolani Place and transferred in a torchlight procession at night to Mauna ‘Ala, the new Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu Valley.
“Earth has not seen a more solemn procession what when, in the darkness of the night, the bodies of these chieftains were carried through the streets”. (Hawaiian Gazette, January 14, 1880)
In a speech delivered on the occasion of the laying of the Cornerstone of The Royal Palace (ʻIolani Palace,) Honolulu, in 1879, JH Kapena, Minister of Foreign Relations, said:
“Doubtless the memory is yet green of that never-to-be-forgotten night when the remains of the departed chiefs were removed to the Royal Mausoleum in the valley.”
“Perhaps the world had never witnessed a procession more weird and solemn than that which conveyed the bodies of the chiefs through our streets, accompanied on each side by thousands of people until the mausoleum was reached, the entire scene and procession being lighted by large kukui torches, while the midnight darkness brought in striking relief the coffins on their biers.”
The March 10, 1899 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette noted that Liloa (1500s,) Lonoikamakahiki (late-1500s) and Alapaʻi (1700s) are among the buried at Mauna ʻAla.
In 1866, the remains of John Young, the British seaman who became a close friend and advisor to Kamehameha I, had been moved to Mauna ‘Ala.
Then the first major crypt was built during 1884-1887 by Charles Reed Bishop, husband of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, to house the remains of the Kamehameha family. Later, he too was buried there and the crypt sealed.
The Kamehameha crypt is the resting place Kamehameha II to V and other members of family – there are a total of 24 Kamehameha’s buried there.
Lunalilo chose to be buried on Kawaiaha‘o Church grounds in his personal crypt and not at the Royal Mausoleum.
A second crypt was built in 1904 to house nine of Queen Emma’s relatives and close associates. This tomb is named for Robert C. Wyllie, a close friend of the Kamehameha family and an important figure in late-19th century Hawaiian politics.
Between 1907 and 1910, a third crypt was built to shelter the Kalākaua family. The Kalākaua crypt holds the buried remains of members of the Kalākaua dynasty – a total of 20 members of the Kalākaua family.
It was Queen Lili‘uokalani’s wish and vision to convert the mausoleum building into a chapel, to be used specifically to celebrate the birthdays of Hawai‘i’s kings and queens and their legacy of aloha, left to the Hawaiian people through the various trusts created by these high chiefs and high chiefesses, to care for their people.
By a joint resolution of Congress on May 31, 1900, the 3.5-acres of land that make up the Mauna ʻAla premises were “withdrawn from sale, lease, or other disposition under the public-land laws of the United States” and the property is to be used as a mausoleum for the royal family of Hawai‘i.
Mauna ‘Ala is managed by DLNR’s State Parks Division; there is a curator agreement for the property. William John Kaihe‘ekai Mai‘oho (Bill) was appointed curator of Mauna ‘Ala in January 1995. His mother was kahu for 28-years prior. This position was handed down through the generations.
I had the good fortune to meet Bill on a couple occasions. Once, at Mauna ‘Ala for a service in the chapel and presenting of ho‘okupu at the Kamehameha crypt; the second was at the awa ceremony for the curator agreement between DLNR and the Royal Order of Kamehameha I at Kaʻawaloa Point at Kealakekua Bay.
Mauna ʻAla is open to the public from 8 am to 4 pm, Monday thru Friday and on Memorial Day.
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Pohukaina
ʻIolani Palace State Monument consists of ʻIolani Palace, Barracks, Coronation Pavilion, Kanaina Building (Old Archives Building), Kekauluohi Building (State Archives Building) and Grounds consisting of 11 acres of land, including the perimeter wall and wrought iron fence bordered by King Street, Likelike Street, Hotel Street Mall and Richards Street.
ʻIolani Monument is one of the most important historical and cultural resources in Hawaiʻi. Before the arrival of the missionaries in the 1820s, a Hawaiian temple or heiau, known as “Kaahimauili,” was in this area.
Also on the grounds of ʻIolani Palace is a Burial Mound, a former Royal Mausoleum.
The Sacred Mound (previously a stone mausoleum) – Pohukaina – was constructed in 1825 to house the remains of Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and his consort, Queen Kamāmalu. Both had died of measles while on a journey to England the year before.
It is believed they probably contracted the disease on their visit to the Royal Military Asylum (now the Duke of York’s Royal Military School;) virtually the entire royal party developed measles within weeks of arrival.
Kamāmalu (aged 22) died on July 8, 1824. The grief-stricken Kamehameha II (age 27) died six days later on July 14, 1824. Prior to his death he asked to return and buried in Hawai‘i.
Then upon their arrival in Hawai‘i, in consultation between the Kuhina Nui, Ka‘ahumanu, and other high chiefs, and telling them about Westminster Abbey and the underground burial crypts they had seen there, it was decided to build a mausoleum building on the grounds of ʻIolani Palace.
The mausoleum was a small eighteen-by-twenty-four foot Western style structure made of white-washed coral blocks with a thatched roof; it had no windows.
Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and Queen Kamāmalu were buried on August 23, 1825. The name ‘Pohukaina’ begins to be used to reference the site at the time of their burial. (Pohukaina – is translated as “Pohu-ka-ʻāina” (the land is quiet and calm.))
For the next forty years, this royal tomb and the land immediately surrounding it became the final resting place for the kings of Hawai‘i, their consorts and important chiefs of the kingdom
Reportedly, in 1858, Kamehameha IV brings over the ancestral remains of other Aliʻi – coffins and even earlier grave material – out of their original burial caves, and they are buried in Pohukaina.
In 1865, the remains of 21 Ali‘i were removed from this site and transferred in a torchlight procession at night to Mauna ‘Ala, a new Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu Valley.
In a speech delivered on the occasion of the laying of the Cornerstone of The Royal Palace (ʻIolani Palace,) Honolulu, in 1879, JH Kapena, Minister of Foreign Relations, said:
“Doubtless the memory is yet green of that never-to-be-forgotten night when the remains of the departed chiefs were removed to the Royal Mausoleum in the valley.”
“Perhaps the world had never witnessed a procession more weird and solemn than that which conveyed the bodies of the chiefs through our streets, accompanied on each side by thousands of people until the mausoleum was reached …”
“… the entire scene and procession being lighted by large kukui torches, while the midnight darkness brought in striking relief the coffins on their biers.”
“Earth has not seen a more solemn procession what when, in the darkness of the night, the bodies of these chieftains were carried through the streets”. (Hawaiian Gazette, January 14, 1880)
The March 10, 1899 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette noted that Liloa (1500s,) Lonoikamakahiki (late-1500s) and Alapaʻi (1700s) are among the buried at Mauna ʻAla.
After being overgrown for many years, the Hawaiian Historical Society passed a resolution in 1930 requesting Governor Lawrence Judd to memorialize the site with the construction of a metal fence enclosure and a plaque. (Tradition holds that the tomb was on the site of a former cave.)
In order that the spot may not be forgotten where that tomb once stood, the king has caused a mound to be raised.
The State designated the area a Monument in recognition of its historic importance, and to utilize these unique resources to educate and promote awareness of the historic and cultural character of the era of the Hawaiian monarchy.