Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Emma Na'ea Rooke
Parallel form(s) of name
- Emma Kaleleokalani Rooke
- Emma Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke
- Mōʻīwahine Emma Rooke
- Mōʻīwahine Emma
- Queen Emma
- Queen Emma Rooke
- Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke
- Emma Naʻea
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1836-1845
History
Emma Naʻea was born on January 2, 1836, to Fanny Young Kekelaokalani and George Naʻea. She was a moʻopuna wahine (granddaughter) on her mother's side, of John Young, advisor to Kamehameha Paiʻea and one of the first Europeans to come to Hawaiʻi. Her maternal grandmother was Kaoanaeha, whose father Ke'liimaikaʻi, was a brother of Kamehameha I. According to Hawaiian custom she had been promised before birth to Grace Kamaikui Young, a younger sister of Mōʻīwahine (Queen) Emma's mother, who was married to the English physician Thomas Charles Byde Rooke. Dr. Rooke' s Honolulu residence, known as Rooke House, was her home until her marriage, to which she returned after the death of her royal husband. She also had a residence in Nuʻuanu Valley called Hānaiakamalama, today known as the Queen Emma Summer Palace, and a cottage at Lawai, Kauaʻi. A confidential advisor of kings and chiefs,
Dr. Rooke devoted himself to the care of his adopted daughter, whose early education was received at the Royal School and from an English tutor, Mrs. Sarah Rhodes von Phister, who like Dr. Rooke was a member of the Church of England. On June 19, 1856, Emma, then known as Emma Rooke, was married to Kamehameha IV according to the Anglican rite and became Queen Emma. She proved a most devoted wife and
entered fully into her husband's plans and aspirations for the welfare of the Hawaiian people. Together they were particularly devoted to the establishment of The Queen's Hospital and the Anglican Church in Hawaii, called the Reformed Catholic Church. On May 5, 1858, her son, Albert Edward, the Prince of Hawaiʻi, was born, named for the Prince of Wales who was to have been his godfather. Four years later, on August 27, 1862, the child prince died. One year later Queen Emma's husband died. .After the king's death she took the name Kaleleonālani. Early in 1874 when King Lunalilo died without naming a successor, Queen Emma was a candidate for election to the throne, running against David Kalākaua, who won the election. The choice of the legislature was not the choice of a large number of the Hawaiian people and a riot ensued
on February 12, but Queen Emma generally acquiesced in her defeat. During the last few years of her life Emma busied herself in practical politics, social functions and her various philanthropies. She died at Honolulu on April 25, 1885.
Places
Hānaiakamalama (Queen Emma Summer Palace) 2913 Nuʻuanu Pali Highway, Honolulu, Oʻahu.
Ihikapukalani, royal residence on the east side of ʻIolani Palace, mauka. Site of the current HSA building.
Kauluhinano, royal residence on the east side of ʻIolani Palace, makai
Rooke House, Honolulu, named Queen Emma Hall in 1900s. Later site of Liberty Theater. Now a parking lot.