Iolani Palace | Page 3 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 8, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sad Sailing of the HMS Blonde

Ka‘iana‘ahu‘ula was the first Hawaiian chief to travel to foreign countries; he went to Canton, China in 1787 returning in 1788.

In November 1823, Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and Queen Kamāmalu were the first Ali‘i to travel to England.

They commissioned the British whaling ship L’Aigle (French for “the Eagle”) to carry them to London to gain firsthand experience in European ways and to seek an audience with King George IV to negotiate an alliance with England.

Going along were High Chief Boki and wife High Chiefess Liliha, and other chiefs and retainers. Liholiho and Boki brought with them several feather cloaks and capes, visual symbols of Hawaiian royalty. Kamāmalu and Liliha took with them fine kapa clothing suitable for their rank.

In February 1824, along the way, after rounding Cape Horn, they arrived at Rio de Janeiro in newly-independent Brazil where they met Emperor Pedro I.

The Emperor gave Kamehameha II a ceremonial sword, and in return was presented with a native Hawaiian feather cloak made from rare tropical bird feathers.

L’Aigle arrived on May 17, 1824 in Portsmouth, and the next day the entourage moved into the Caledonian Hotel in London. Foreign Office Secretary George Canning appointed Frederick Gerald Byng to supervise their visit.

In London, the royal party was fitted with the latest fashion and they toured London, visiting Westminster Abbey, attended opera and ballet at Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. On May 28 a reception with 200 guests, including several Dukes, was held in their honor.

King George IV finally scheduled a meeting for June 21, but it had to be delayed; Liholiho and Kamāmalu became ill. The Hawaiian court had caught the measles (like other Hawaiians, they did not have immunity to outside diseases.)

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, 7 to 10 days after visiting the Royal Military Asylum housing hundreds of soldiers’ children.

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 be buried in Hawai‘i.

Boki took over leadership of the delegation and finally did have an audience with King George IV.

Shortly thereafter, the British Government dispatched HMS Blonde to convey the bodies of Liholiho and Kamāmalu back to Hawaii, along with the entourage. The Captain of the Blonde, a newly commissioned 46-gun frigate, was Lord Byron (a cousin of the poet.)

The Blonde arrived back in Honolulu on May 6, 1825.

Kalanimōkū (who was not on the trip) had been notified of the deaths in a letter, so Hawaiian royalty gathered at his house where the bodies were moved for the funeral.

Liholiho and Kamāmalu were buried on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace in a coral house meant to be the Hawaiian version of the tombs Liholiho had seen in London. They were eventually moved to Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum.

Kamehameha II was succeeded by his younger brother Kauikeaouli, who became King Kamehameha III.

Before 1848 measles was unknown in Hawaii. Several epidemics struck Hawaiʻi in late-1848, beginning with measles and whooping cough, then the flu.

July 5, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Early Stages to the Overthrow – Challenges with Kalākaua

Some suggest the overthrow of the Hawai‘i constitutional monarchy was neither unexpected nor sudden.

Dissatisfaction with the rule of Kalākaua (and, later, Lili‘uokalani) led to the ‘Bayonet Constitution,’ then, the overthrow. Mounting dissatisfaction with government policies and private acts of officials led to the formation of the Hawaiian League, a group of Honolulu businessmen.

Folks generally cite the efforts to form the Polynesian Confederacy, the opium license bribery case and the extravagance (and growing debt) as issues of concern about Kalākaua’s rule.

Polynesian Confederacy

“Kalākaua (one of the most theoretical of men) was filled with visionary schemes for the protection and development of the Polynesian race; (Walter Murray Gibson) fell in step with him … The king and minister at least conceived between them a scheme of island confederation.” (Stevenson)

“(Gibson) discerned but little difficulty in the way of organizing such a political union, over which Kalākaua would be the logical emperor, and the Premier of an almost boundless empire of Polynesian archipelagoes.” (Daggett; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 6, 1900)

“The first step once taken between the Hawaiian and Samoan groups, other Polynesian groups and, inclusively, Micronesian and Melanesian groups, might gradually be induced to enter into the new Polynesian confederation just as Lord Carnarvon gets colony after colony to adopt His Lordship’s British Federal Dominion policy.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 17, 1877)

John Bush, Hawaiʻi’s ambassador to Sāmoa, succeeded in negotiating Articles of Confederation, which the Hawaiian cabinet ratified in March 1887. Kalākaua sent the Kaimiloa to salute High Chief Malietoa Laupepa in Sāmoa. (However, a German warship there warned Kalākaua to stop meddling in Samoan affairs.) (Chappell)

Eventually, the confederacy attempts failed. It part, it is believed too many changes to existing systems were proposed, many of which were modeled after the Western way.

Later, the Berlin Act (signed June 14, 1889,) between the US, Germany and Britain, established three-power joint rule over Sāmoa. This ultimately led to the creation of American Sāmoa.

Opium License Bribery Case

Another issue that particularly incensed people was the opium franchise bribery case, in which the King was implicated. (Forbes) An opium bill was passed providing for a license for four years, to be granted by the minister of the interior with the consent of the King. (Reports of Committee on Foreign Relations)

“Early in November, 1886, Junius Kaae, (who has access to the King,) informed a Chinese rice planter named Tong Kee, alias Aki, that he could have the opium license granted to him if he would pay the sum of $60,000 to the King’s private purse, but that he must be in haste because other parties were bidding for the privilege.” (Executive Documents US House of Representatives, 1895)

“With some difficulty Aki raised the money, and secretly paid it to Kaae and the King in three instalments between December 3d and December 8th, 1888. Soon afterwards Kaae called on Aki and informed him that one, Kwong Sam Kee, had offered the King $75,000 for the license, and would certainly get it, unless Aki paid $15,000 more.”

“Accordingly Aki borrowed the amount and gave it to the King personally on the 11th. Shortly after this another Chinese syndicate, headed by Chung Lung, paid the King $80,000 for the same object, but took the precaution to secure the license before handing over the money.” (Alexander)

In a later affidavit, Tong Kee (Aki) noted, “I asked the King to return me all of my money and drop the whole thing. He exclaimed that this could not be done that it was all understood and arranged about the division of the license and could not be changed.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 17, 1887)

Initially the king, through his minister of foreign affairs, disclaimed any involvement. However, “To cap the climax of the opium matter, the Attorney General proceeds to acknowledge that the money was paid over by the Chinese … (H)e informed the gentlemen interested in getting the money back that he would never accomplish his object so long as he allowed the newspaper to speak of the affair.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 17, 1887)

“The Attorney General then sees that there is no use in denying the receipt of the money but suggests that if a quiet tongue is kept in the matter the cash received for the bribe may be returned. … This is a pretty piece of morality for the Attorney General to put forth and shows the obliquity of vision of all who are connected with the government.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 17, 1887)

Extravagance/Debt

Although Kalākaua had been elected and serving as King since 1874, upon returning from a trip around the world (1881), it was determined that Hawaiʻi’s King should also be properly crowned (1883).

“ʻIolani Palace, the new building of that name, had been completed the previous year (1882), and a large pavilion had been erected immediately in front of it for the celebration of the coronation. This was exclusively for the accommodation of the royal family; but there was adjacent thereto a sort of amphitheatre, capable of holding ten thousand persons, intended for the occupation of the people.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“On Monday, 12th February, the imposing ceremony of the Coronation of their Majesties the King and Queen of the Hawaiian Islands took place at ʻIolani Palace. … Like a mechanical transformation scene to take place at an appointed minute, so did the sun burst forth as the clock struck twelve, and immediately after their Majesties had been crowned.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 17, 1883)

The building of ‘Iolani Palace, in and of itself was an enormous extravagance, and so far as its cost is concerned remains a mystery to this day. The contract was not put out to tender in the customary manner, but the work was given for private reasons to architects and builders whom the King wished to favor. There were no requisitions upon the Treasury, and bills were paid by the King without any Ministerial intervention. (Krout)

During the Aki Opium Bribery Case, noted above, it was learned that, “the King’s liabilities of one kind and another amounted to more than $250,000. He was finally induced to make an assignment for the benefit of his creditors … it was decided, in conformity with the Constitution, which adhered to the old mediaeval tradition, that the King could ‘do no wrong.’”

“This interpretation meant that Kalākaua ‘could not be sued or held to account in any court of the kingdom,’ but the revenue in the hands of the trustees was held liable to Aki’s claim.” (Krout)

“Official advices from Honolulu, just received here, shows that the financial condition of the Hawaiian Kingdom is such that there is not the slightest hope of the Government ever again being independent of money lenders. The consequence will be trouble which must come sooner or later, involving the interest of Americans, Englishmen and Germany.”

“It is understood that when that period is reached our Government will insist that only American authority shall be recognized in the Hawaiian Kingdom, in what form this control will be established has not been considered, but no foreign Government will be permitted, under plea of setting up a protectorate, to establish itself in that country.” (Sacramento Daily Union, June 29, 1887)

This led to the ‘Bayonet Constitution’ (signed July 6, 1887) that greatly curtailed the monarch’s power, making him a mere figurehead; it placed executive power in the hands of a cabinet whose members could no longer be dismissed by the monarch but only by the legislature; it provided for election of the House of Nobles, formerly appointed by the monarch. (hawaiibar-org)

Kalakaua_1882

April 10, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

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.

November 14, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

James Hay Wodehouse

James Hay Wodehouse was born on April 23, 1824. He was the second son of Charles Nourse Wodehouse (Archdeacon of Norwich) and Lady Dulcibella Jane Hay. He married Annette Fanny Massey, daughter of William Massey, on January 19, 1861.

Wodehouse was private secretary to George Grey (Governor of New Zealand) in 1851; on November 5, 1860, it was announced, “The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint Major James Hay Wodehouse to be her Majesty’s consul in the Society or Leeward Islands in the Pacific Ocean.” (London Daily News, November 24, 1860)

On June 21, 1866, “The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint James Hay Wodehouse, Esq … to be Her Majesty’s Commissioner and Consul-General in the Sandwich Islands.” (British Bulletins, 1866)

A retired British Army Major, Wodehouse took up his duties and thereafter worked diligently to protect British interests during a long career. (Andrade) “Minister Wodehouse represented the British Governmental the Hawaiian court for over twenty-five years with great credit.” (San Francisco Call, August 11, 1895)

These were tumultuous times in the Islands. Through several monarchs, the issue of independence / annexation and takeover by others were part of the ongoing discussions.

“About the end of 1867, Queen Emma, in a conversation with British Commissioner JH Wodehouse, assured him ‘that with a few exceptions, all the natives were opposed to annexation.’” (Daws)

“Many times, Kamehameha V stated his firm resolve to maintain the independence of his kingdom, and there is no good reason to doubt the sincerity of these declarations. British Commissioner Wodehouse reported a conversation with the king in which the latter expressed ‘his determination to resist any project for the annexation of his Islands to the United States.’” (Daws)

On January 17, 1893, Queen Lili`uokalani yielded her authority to the US government. In 1895, an abortive attempt by Hawaiian royalists to restore Queen Liliʻuokalani to power resulted in the Queen’s arrest.

Convicted of having knowledge of a royalist plot, “at two o’clock on the afternoon of the 27th of February I was again called into court, and sentence passed upon me … a fine of $5,000, and imprisonment at hard labor for five years.” (Queen Liliʻuokalani) The sentence was commuted to imprisonment in an upstairs apartment in ʻIolani Palace.

“(Wodehouse) was strongly opposed to the revolution, and made himself obnoxious to the Provisional Government, who came to regard the British legation as the chief center of royalist intrigue.” (San Francisco Call, August 11, 1895)

The British Government, having recognized the Hawaiian Republic, recalled Wodehouse and appointed Mr Hawes British commissioner and consul general. Major Wodehouse, on his departure, neglected to pay an official farewell to the Dole Government, and proposed to take leave of the ex-Queen, imprisoned in the palace. (Appletons’, 1895)

“Previous to Mr Wodehouse’s departure from Honolulu he requested a parting interview with ex-Queen Liliʻuokalani, but the request received a positive refusal. The reason assigned was that Mr Wodehouse still held an official character of which he could not divest himself, so as to render his visit to the former Queen one merely of friendship.” (San Francisco Call, August 11, 1895)

“(A)n open letter of Mrs Wodehouse to the ex-Queen had been returned to the writer because it was addressed to ‘Her Majesty.’ The denial of intercourse in the case of the British Minister is an exception to a very considerable degree of the freedom usually allowed to Mrs Dominis in seeing her friends. (San Francisco Call, August 11, 1895)

Wodehouse had other reasons for desiring to be relieved of his duties at this time. He had been in Hawaiʻi for 15-years without any leave, was not in good health and wished to return to England to spend his last years. The British government accordingly granted him leave to return to England. (Andrade) Wodehouse died in England on July 13, 1911.

Here’s a little Wodehouse side note: A malfunctioning chronometer put the British sailing ship Dunnottar Castle off course and onto the reef at Kure atoll. Seven of the crew members, including its Chief Officer, took one of the surviving boats and sailed, for 52 days, to Kauaʻi. Upon being informed of the tragedy, the British Commissioner in Honolulu organized a rescue mission. (HawaiianAtolls)

Wodehouse decided to send a ship for the remaining crew. Suspecting that the British might use the occasion to annex the island, the Hawaiian Government shared the expedition expenses and instructed Commissioner James Boyd to take formal possession of Kure. On September 20, 1886 Boyd took possession of the island, then-called Mokupāpapa, for the Hawaiian government. (PMNM)

The rescue mission came back to Honolulu with the same amount of people it had sailed out with. No survivors were found on the atoll, except for two fox terriers and a retriever. All of the survivors had been picked up earlier by a passing vessel and were on route to Chile. (HawaiianAtolls)

Here’s another side note, relating to one of Wodehouse’s sons, ‘Hay.’ On July 30, 1889, Robert William Wilcox led a rebellion to restore the rights of the monarchy, two years after the Bayonet Constitution of 1887 left King Kalākaua a mere ﬁgurehead.

“The day was won, they say, by a base ball (catcher,) who threw dynamite bombs into the bungalow that formed the headquarters of the insurgents and brought them to terms quicker than rifle or cannon shot.”

“Bombs were made, but it was found that there were no guns to fire them. It was a long throw, and in their dilemma the King’s guards secured the services of Haywood (Wodehouse,) (catcher) of the Honolulu Base Ball Club.”

“(Wodehouse) took up his position in the Coney Island building, just across a narrow lane, and overlooking the bungalow. No attack was expected from that quarter, and there was nothing to disturb the bomb thrower. (Wodehouse) stood for a moment with a bomb in his hand as though he were in the box waiting for a batsman. He had to throw over a house to reach the bungalow, which he could not see.”

“The first bomb went sailing over the wall, made a down curve and struck the side of the bungalow about a foot from the roof … The bomb had reached them and hurt a number of the insurgents. (Wodehouse) coolly picked out another bomb. Then he took a step back, made a half turn and sent it whizzing. It landed on the roof … He threw one more bomb and Wilcox came out and surrendered.” (The Sporting Life, October 16, 1889)

Here’s one more … The unveiling of the Captain Cook monument in Kealakekua Bay took place on November 14, 1874. Credit for it is given to Princess Likelike (sister of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani, and mother of Princess Kaʻiulani (who sold the land for $1 on January 26, 1877 to be held in trust for the monument in memory of Captain Cook)) and British Commissioner Wodehouse.

“The erection of a suitable and durable monument to the memory of Captain James Cook has been often proposed and more than once attempted, but has now been happily accomplished under the direction of Mr Wodehouse, the British Commissioner, with the cooperation of Captain Cator of HMS ship Scout, who kindly conveyed the architect and his men and materials to the spot in Kealakekua Bay, where the circumnavigator fell, and where now, nearly a century later, a fitting monument is at last dedicated to his memory.”

“It is a plain obelisk, standing on a square base, the whole being twenty-seven feet in height, and constructed throughout of a concrete composed of carefully screened pebbles and cement, similar to tie material of which the fine public buildings in this city are built. It stands on an artificially leveled platform of lava only a few feet distant from and above the highwater mark, and fifteen or twenty yards from the shore or lava slab on which the great seaman stood when struck down.”

“The site is thus the most suitable that could have been chosen, and is the gift of Princess Likelike, wife of Hon. AS Cleghorn. The expense of the erection is partly borne by subscribers in England…” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 25, 1874)

February 27, 2020 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

The Queen’s Imprisonment

On the advice of his physician King Kalākaua traveled to the US continent for a change of climate to recuperate his health. He died at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on January 20, 1891.

His remains were brought back to Hawaiʻi aboard the USS Charleston. As the ship rounded Diamond Head, the flags were seen lowered to half-mast, and it was then that the King’s subjects realized Kalākaua was dead.

Kalākaua was succeeded by his sister, Liliʻuokalani, who was proclaimed Queen on January 29, 1891. Her experience as Princess Regent during King Kalākaua’s nine-month journey around the world in 1881 and her visit to the United States in 1887 with Queen Kapiʻolani helped prepare her for her new role as Queen of Hawaiʻi.

Queen Liliʻuokalani was determined to strengthen the political power of the Hawaiian monarchy and, at the request of her people, to limit suffrage to subjects of the kingdom.

Her attempt to promulgate a new constitution galvanized opposition forces into the Committee of Safety, which was composed of Hawaiʻi-born citizens of American parents, naturalized citizens and foreign nationals; they later organized the establishment of a provisional government.

On January 17, 1893, Queen Lili`uokalani yielded her authority to the US government in a letter delivered to Sanford B Dole: “…Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do this under protest and impelled by said force yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.”

“Weary with waiting, impatient under the wrongs they were suffering, preparations were undoubtedly made amongst some in sympathy with the monarchy to overthrow the oligarchy.” (Queen Liliʻuokalani)

In 1895, an abortive attempt by Hawaiian royalists to restore Queen Liliʻuokalani to power resulted in the Queen’s arrest. She signed a document of abdication that relinquished all her future claims to the throne. Following this, she endured a public trial before a military tribunal in her former throne room.

Convicted of having knowledge of a royalist plot, “at two o’clock on the afternoon of the 27th of February I was again called into court, and sentence passed upon me. It was the extreme penalty for “misprision of treason,” – a fine of $5,000, and imprisonment at hard labor for five years.” (Queen Liliʻuokalani)

The sentence was commuted to imprisonment in an upstairs apartment in ʻIolani Palace.

Queen Liliʻuokalani’s “prison” room is on the makai-Diamond Head second-floor corner of ʻIolani Palace. If you visit the Palace today, the area where the Queen was held is clearly noted by its white covered-over window.

Contrary to urban legend, the Palace windows were not frosted and painted over to block the Queen’s ability to see out and others to see her inside.

In 1887, the Palace’s second story windows were opaque glass. When the Palace was attacked in 1889 during the initial Wilcox Rebellion, many of the Place windows were broken. When repairs were made (through 1890,) these windows were replaced with frosted glass.

There are apparently no photographs of the Queen’s room during her imprisonment. She describes the apartment as, “a large, airy, uncarpeted room with a single bed in one corner. The other furniture consisted of one sofa, a small square table, one single common chair, an iron safe, a bureau, a chiffonier (storage for odds and ends,) and a cupboard, intended for eatables … There was, adjoining the principal apartment, a bath-room, and also a corner room and a little boudoir …” (Queen Liliʻuokalani)

During her imprisonment, the Queen was denied any visitors other than one lady in waiting (Mrs. Eveline Wilson.) She began each day with her daily devotions followed by reading, quilting, crochet-work or music composition.

“Though I was still not allowed to have newspapers or general literature to read, writing-paper and lead-pencils were not denied; and I was thereby able to write music, after drawing for myself the lines of the staff.” (Queen Liliʻuokalani)

The Palace has a quilt the Queen made; the center square of Liliʻuokalani’s quilt includes the embroidered words “Imprisoned at Iolani Palace … We began the quilt there …”

“Surrounding the Kalakaua coat of arms and framed by pairs of crossed Hawaiian flags, the center block outlines the sequence of events that changed the course of Hawaiian history, including the stitched date the Provisional Government was put in place, when Lili’uokalani was forced to step down, and the date of the aborted Wilcox revolution that precipitated the queen’s arrest.” (Star-Bulletin)

Embroidered dates indicate the quilt was completed after Liliʻuokalani’s release on September 6, 1895.

She spent 8 months in this room. After her release from ʻIolani Palace, the Queen remained under house arrest for five months at her private home, Washington Place. For another eight months she was forbidden to leave Oʻahu before all restrictions were lifted.

Liliʻuokalani died of a stroke on November 11, 1917 in Honolulu at the age of 79.

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