William Richards (Hawaii)
| William Richards | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
August 22, 1793 Plainfield, Massachusetts |
| Died | November 7, 1847 (aged 54) Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Missionary, Diplomat |
| Spouse(s) | Clarissa Lyman |
| Children | 8 |
| Parent(s) | James Richards Lydia Shaw |
William Richards (August 22, 1793 – November 7, 1847) was a missionary and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
William Richards was born in Plainfield, Massachusetts on August 22, 1793. His father was James Richards and mother was Lydia Shaw. He was schooled under Moses Hallock in Plainfield, attended Williams College 1815 through graduation in 1819 and Andover Seminary. His brother James had also gone to Williams College and became a missionary. He was ordained September 12, 1822. He married Clarissa Lyman (1794–1861) on October 30, 1822. Her distant cousin David Belden Lyman would also come to Hawaii to serve as a missionary 9 years later.
They sailed on November 19, 1822 on the ship Thames under Captain Clasby from New Haven, Connecticut in the second company from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to Hawaii. They arrived to the Hawaiian Islands April 24, 1823 and landed in Honolulu April 27.
On May 28, 1823 he and shipmate Charles Stewart sailed on the Royal Yacht Cleopatra's Barge to Lahaina and on May 31 founded the mission in on Maui inside thatched huts. However, he did not speak the Hawaiian language fluently enough for people to understand his sermons. In September Queen Mother Keōpūolani became ill and requested Baptism, but the missionaries wanted to make sure she fully understood the ceremony. English missionary William Ellis had just arrived with Tahitian interpreters, and the language was similar enough that they were used for the baptism just before the Queen Mother's death. In December 1823, the young King Kamehameha II sailed to England in an attempted state visit, and the government was left in the hands of Queen Regent Kaʻahumanu and Prime Minister Kalanimoku who were both accommodating to the mission.
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