Emma | |||||
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Queen consort of the Hawaiian Islands | |||||
Tenure | June 19, 1856 – November 30, 1863 | ||||
Born |
Honolulu, Oahu |
January 2, 1836||||
Died | April 25, 1885 Honolulu, Oahu |
(aged 49)||||
Burial |
Mauna ʻAla Royal Mausoleum |
May 17, 1885||||
Spouse | Kamehameha IV | ||||
Issue | Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha | ||||
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House | Kamehameha | ||||
Father |
High Chief George Naʻea Thomas Rooke (hānai) |
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Mother |
High Chiefess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young High Chiefess Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke (hānai) |
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Religion | Church of Hawaii | ||||
Signature |
Full name | |
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Emalani Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea (Hawaiian) Emma Alexandrina Francis Agnes Lowder Byde Rooke Young Kaleleokalani (Anglican) |
Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke of Hawaiʻi (January 2, 1836 – April 25, 1885) was queen consort of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She ran for ruling monarch against King Kalākaua but was defeated.
Emma was born on January 2, 1836 in Honolulu and was often called Emalani ("royal Emma"). 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, Dr. 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 (so sacred that she could not be exposed to the sun except at dawn).
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 state Kaʻōanaʻeha's father was High Chief Kalaipaihala. This confusion is due to the fact that High Chiefess Kalikoʻokalani, the mother of Kaʻōanaʻeha, married both to Keliʻimaikaʻi and to 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 through the second theory Queen Emma would still have been 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 have been contested in her own lifetime.