Kalākaua, born David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua and sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Succeeding Lunalilo, he was elected to the vacant throne of Hawaiʻi against Queen Emma. He reigned from February 12, 1874, until his death in San Francisco, California, on January 20, 1891. Kalākaua had a convivial personality and enjoyed entertaining guests with his singing and ukulele playing. At his coronation and his birthday jubilee, the hula that had been banned from public in the kingdom became a celebration of Hawaiian culture.
Ravenscrag is the name of several ships, some being sailing vessels and some steamships. One of the sailing vessels is historically significant for bringing to the Hawaiian Islands in 1879 Portuguese immigrants who subsequently introduced the ukulele to island culture.
The PS Hankow was an iron paddle steamer built at A and J Inglis, Pointhouse, Glasgow with Yard No. 107. The Hankow is notable as one of the ships to participate in the 1878 to 1911 wave of Portuguese immigration to Hawaii, when she arrived on 9 July 1883 in Honolulu Harbor with 1,462 immigrants from the Azores and Madeira Island of Portugal to work as contract labor in the Hawaiian sugarcane plantations. She was transferred in 1886 from Yangtze to Hong Kong/Canton service. Gutted by fire on 14 October 1906 at Canton Steamer Wharf, Hong Kong with loss of 130 lives. Towed to Shanghai in 1907 and converted to hulk and moved to Hankow as transhipment godown. Transferred to Shasi in 1930, and to Ichang in 1938. Destroyed by American bombing during WW2.
Luther Aholo was a politician who served many political posts in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He served multiple terms as a legislator from Maui and Minister of the Interior from 1886 to 1887. Considered one of the leading Hawaiian politicians of his generation, his skills as an orator were compared to those of the Ancient Greek statesman Solon.
Portuguese immigration to Hawaii began in 1878 when Portuguese residents made up less than 1% of the Island population. However, the migration that began that year of laborers from Madeira and the Azores to work in the sugarcane plantations rapidly increased the Portuguese presence in Hawaii, and by the end of 1911 nearly 16,000 Portuguese immigrants had arrived.
The SV Suffolk is a British sailing ship, built in 1857 as a Blackwall Frigate, that in 1881 became the second ship to deliver Portuguese immigrants from the Azores Islands to Hawaii. It was the fourth ship overall to participate in the Portuguese immigration to Hawaii, having been preceded by the SS Priscilla, SS Ravenscrag and SV Highflyer.
Spanish immigration to Hawaii began in 1907 when the Hawaiian government and the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association (HSPA) decided to supplement their ongoing importation of Portuguese workers to Hawaii with workers recruited from Spain. Importation of Spanish laborers, along with their families, continued until 1913, at which time more than 9,000 Spanish immigrants had been brought in, most recruited to work primarily on the Hawaiian sugarcane plantations.
SS Orteric is a Clyde-built British cargo ship that on 13 April 1911 brought 960 Spanish and 565 Portuguese immigrants to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations. The ship was subsequently torpedoed and sunk in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea by a German U-boat during the First World War.
James Wood Bush was an American Union Navy sailor of British and Native Hawaiian descent. He was among a group of more than one hundred Native Hawaiian and Hawaii-born combatants in the American Civil War, at a time when the Kingdom of Hawaii was still an independent nation.
Leonard's Bakery is a Portuguese bakery in Honolulu, Hawaii, known for popularizing the malasada. The fried pastry, slightly crispier and chewier than a doughnut and with no hole, is known as a cuisine of Hawaii. Though Portuguese immigrants brought the malasada to Hawaii at the turn of the 20th century, Leonard's opened in 1952 and brought it to a wider audience. Leonard's is a household name in Hawaii and is well known in the continental United States and internationally. A franchise location opened in Japan in 2008.
J. W. Lonoaea was a politician of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi who served in the House of Representatives of the Legislature of the Kingdom from 1872 until his death. Following the death of King Lunalilo, it fell to the legislature to choose the next monarch from amongst the native-born high chiefs, though only three candidates were considered seriously: Bernice Pauahi Bishop, David Kalākaua, and Queen Emma. Lonoaea voted with the majority in supporting Kalākaua, and was one of the thirteen legislators to be injured by supporters of Queen Emma in the ensuing 1874 Honolulu Courthouse riot. Lonoaea was the only legislator who did not survive his injuries.
Paul Nahaolelua was a Hawaiian high chief who served many political posts in the Kingdom of Hawaii, including Governor of Maui from 1852 to 1874. In his long political career, Nahaolelua served under the reigns of five monarchs: Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and Kalākaua.
Colonel Edward William Purvis was a British army officer and settler of the Kingdom of Hawaii who served as Vice-Chamberlain during the reign of King Kalākaua. After resigning from the royal household, Purvis published two political satires aimed at undermining the image of the king and his prime minister, Walter M. Gibson, who had been responsible for the removal of Purvis' superior. These actions and other factors led to the demise of the Gibson regime and the Bayonet Constitution of 1887. Purvis died in the following year, after going to the United States to seek medical attention for his health. According to popular legend, he was an expert player of the Portuguese machete or cavaquinho and was believed to be the inspiration for the name of the Hawaiian ukulele.
Lanihau was a Hawaiian high chiefess of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She served as the Keeper of the Royal Mausoleum of Mauna ʻAla and was the last Governess of the islands of Kauai and Niihau from 1886 to 1888. During her tenure, she was given the honorific Her Excellency, the Governess of Kauai.
Antone Rosa was a politician, lawyer and judge of the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii. He served as Attorney General of Hawaii, and as a private secretary and vice chamberlain to King Kalākaua.
Sereno Edwards Bishop was a scientist, Presbyterian minister and publisher. He was an avid proponent of the United States annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, and aligned himself with the political faction who overthrew the monarchy under Liliuokalani.
The 1881 world tour of King Kalākaua of the Kingdom of Hawaii was his attempt to save the Hawaiian culture and population from extinction by importing a labor force from Asia-Pacific nations. His efforts brought the small island nation to the attention of world leaders, but sparked rumors that the kingdom was for sale. Critics in Hawaii believed the labor negotiations were just an excuse to see the world. The 281-day trip gave Kalākaua the distinction of being the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe; his 1874 travels had made him the first reigning monarch to visit America and the first honoree of a state dinner at the White House.
William Nevins Armstrong, aka Nevins Armstrong and aka W. N. Armstrong, was the Attorney General of Hawaii during the reign of King David Kalākaua. He is most widely known outside of Hawaii for the book Around the World with a King, his insider account of Kalākaua's 1881 world tour.
Joseph Oliver Carter, known professionally as Joseph O. Carter, was also known as J. O. Carter and Joe Carter. He was a life-long friend, confidant, and legal advisor to Queen Liliʻuokalani, serving on her Privy Council of State. During the reign of King Kalākaua, Carter was Acting Commercial Agent for Japan, and served two terms as representative in the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was president of C. Brewer & Co. in Honolulu. Although he served in the Provisional Government of Hawaii after the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, he was an opponent to annexation by the United States. Carter was trustee of many large estates in Hawaii, and was one of the first directors of the Bishop Museum. Hawaii diplomat Henry A. P. Carter was his brother, and Territorial Governor of Hawaii George R. Carter was his nephew.
Charles Nichols Spencer was the Ministrer of Finance for the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. He was one of Kalākaua's Cabinet Ministers at the time of the king's January 20, 1891 death, and the longest hold-over into Liliʻuokalani's Cabinet Ministers, serving June 17, 1890 – Sept 12, 1892.
