William Ansel Kinney

William Ansel Kinney
Law school graduation in 1883
Born	(1860-10-16)October 16, 1860 Honolulu, Hawaii
Died	c. 1930
Nationality	Kingdom of Hawaii United States
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Occupation	Lawyer
Spouse(s)	Alice Vaughan McBryde

William Ansel Kinney (1860–1930) was a lawyer and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii, through the Republic of Hawaii and into the Territory of Hawaii.

William Ansel Kinney was born October 16, 1860, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father was William Kinney, who was born April 15, 1832, in Chebogue, Nova Scotia. His uncle Joseph Robbins Kinney (1839–1919) was a member of the Canadian House of Commons. His father came to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1850s and married his mother Caroline Dailey (died March 25, 1897) on July 6, 1857. His father then married up to three different native Hawaiian women, having many other children by them. For example, half-brother William Kihapiʻilani Kinney (1868–1953) married Mary Francesca Vierra, and their son Ernest Kaipoleimanu Kinney (1906–1987) married Esther Kauikeaulani Kaʻulili and had daughter Rubellite Kawena Kinney Johnson, who became a Hawaiian historian. The youngest half-sibling was Ray Kinney, born in Hilo September 26, 1900, who became a popular musician and composer. His father managed the sugarcane plantation at Honomu, Hawaii and died June 3, 1915.

Kinney attended Punahou School 1874–1877 and worked as a clerk in a law office. He graduated from law school at the University of Michigan in 1883. He married Alice Vaughan McBryde on August 16, 1893 in Honolulu. His first law partner was Arthur P. Peterson. In 1887 he became partners with William Owen Smith and Lorrin A. Thurston. In 1887 he was elected to the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom as a representative from Hawaiʻi island. During the summer of 1887, he helped draft the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, called the "Bayonet Constitution" because King Kalākaua was forced to sign it. The government headed by Walter M. Gibson was forced to resign and was replaced by one including Thurston in the cabinet.