HOME
*



picture info

Crown Of Tonga
The Crown of Tonga was made in 1873 for George Tupou I at the behest of his prime minister, The Reverend Shirley Waldemar Baker. The crown was fashioned by the jewellery firm of Hardy Brothers of Sydney, Australia. The gold crown of Tonga is reputedly the largest and heaviest crown in the world. History For some time, Tonga's independence had been threatened by France. Since 1862 the German Empire also posed a threat to Tonga's independence with threats of annexation. The King and Reverend Baker composed the Constitution of 1875, which is still in effect today. At this time, Tonga also adopted a national flag, a coat-of-arms and a national anthem. The first king to be crowned with the historic crown was King George Tupou II, the great-grandson and successor Tupou. Tupou II was crowned on 17 March 1893. His daughter and successor Queen Sālote Tupou III was crowned on 11 October 1918. Queen Sālote was succeeded by her eldest son, who became King Tāufa'āhau Tupou IV. He was ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

George Tupou I
George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan equivalent of '' George'', after King George III of the United Kingdom, when he was baptized in 1831. His nickname was ''Lopa-ukamea'' (or Lopa-ʻaione), meaning ''iron cable''. Biography Birth George Tupou I was born around 1797 in Tonga. 4 December is often-quoted as his birthday and is a public holiday in Tonga; however, it was the date of his coronation in 1845 as Tuʻi Kanokupolu, when he took the name Tupou. Tongoleleka and the Niuʻui hospital there (which was destroyed in the 2006 Tonga earthquake) are often stated as his birthplace; however, no evidence supporting this is available, and Lifuka and Tongatapu are also often stated as the birthplace. His father was Tupouto'aʻ, who aspired to be the 17th Tuʻi Kanokupolu, but he was not recognized as such by the high chiefs of Tong ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Shirley Waldemar Baker
Shirley Waldemar Baker (1836 – 16 November 1903) was a Methodist missionary in Tonga. He was the founder of the Free Church of Tonga and enjoyed significant influence during the reign of George Tupou I, who made him prime minister. Early life Baker was born in London, England, to Jane (née Woolmer) and George Baker. He arrived in Melbourne in 1852 during the Victorian gold rush, as a stowaway. He subsequently worked on the goldfields as a farmhand, miner and apothecary's assistant. In 1855, Baker became a teacher at a Wesleyan school in Castlemaine. He married Elizabeth Powell in 1859. Tonga In 1860, Baker was ordained as a Wesleyan minister and went to Tonga as a missionary. He became head of the mission and was involved in the councils of King George Tupou I, who made him his prime minister in 1880. A disagreement arose with the Wesleyan authorities at Sydney in 1879, and Baker founded an independent body under the title of the "Free Church of Tonga". Some of the natives, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hardy Brothers
Hardy Brothers is a specialty retailer and private company of fine jewellery, timepieces and decorative arts in Australia. Its historic products are now highly collectible and are held in state and national collections. It is the only Australian jewellery business to hold a Royal warrant of appointment (United Kingdom), royal warrant and since 1980 has produced the Melbourne Cup. History Hardy Brothers was founded in 1853 by Jeweller John Hardy, an Englishman newly arrived in Sydney, NSW, Australia.By Appointment (Gail Franzmann – The Macmillan Company of Australia, 1980) In 1855, the business moved to Hunter Street, Sydney, NSW and remained there until 1935. In 1894, the business expanded to Queensland with the opening of a store in Queen Street, Brisbane (now heritage-listed as the Hardy Brothers Building). A store was opened in Collins Street, Melbourne, in 1918. In 1929, Hardy Brothers were appointed jewellers by Royal warrant of appointment (United Kingdom), royal ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of and contain clos ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary empire led by an emperor, although has been used in German to denote the Roman Empire because it had a weak hereditary tradition. In the case of the German Empire, the official name was , which is properly translated as "German Empire" because the official position of head of state in the constitution of the German Empire was officially a "presidency" of a confederation of German states led by the King of Prussia who would assume "the title of German Emperor" as referring to the German people, but was not emperor of Germany as in an emperor of a state. –The German Empire" ''Harper's New Monthly Magazine''. vol. 63, issue 376, pp. 591–603; here p. 593. also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, as well as simply Germany, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Constitution Of Tonga
The Constitution of Tonga is supreme law under which the Government of Tonga operates. It was enacted by King George Tupou I on 4 November 1875. It stipulates the makeup of the Tongan Government and the balance between its executive, legislature, and judiciary. The anniversary of its passage is celebrated annually as Tonga's Constitution Day. The constitution is separated into three parts. Part one is a declaration of rights of the Tongan people. Part two addresses the form of government. Part three provides laws for land ownership, succession, and sale. The Declaration of Rights provides for the basic human rights of the people of Tonga. It firstly established Tonga as a free nation. It prohibits slavery except as a form of punishment for a great crime and establishes Tonga as a haven for those who have escaped slavery in a foreign nation. It establishes equal law for all citizens of Tonga despite their class or ethnicity. The constitution provides the freedoms of worship, pre ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

George Tupou II
George Tupou II ( to, Siaosi Tupou II; 18 June 1874 – 5 April 1918) was the King of Tonga from 18 February 1893 until his death. He was officially crowned at Nukuʻalofa, on 17 March 1893. He was also the 20th Tuʻi Kanokupolu. Life Siaosi (George) Tupou II was related to his predecessor and founder of the united Tongan Kingdom, King George Tupou I, Tāufaʻāhau Tupou I on both sides of his family. His father was Prince Tuʻi Pelehake Fatafehi Toutaitokotaha, who was also Prime Minister of Tonga in 1905. Fatahefi's mother Sālote Pilolevu was a daughter of Tāufaʻāhau Tupou I. Siaosi Tupou II's mother was Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku, a daughter of Tēvita ʻUnga who was a son of Tāufaʻāhau Tupou I. Tupou II's reign was troubled by government corruption and inefficiency. The Tongan Parliament in 1900 was suspicious of the Tupou II's governing and audited his accounts several times, finding discrepancies worth thousands of pounds. The expatriate community in Tonga ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sālote Tupou III
Sālote Tupou III (born Sālote Mafile‘o Pilolevu; 13 March 1900 – 16 December 1965) was Queen of Tonga from 1918 to her death in 1965. She reigned for nearly 48 years, longer than any other Tongan monarch. She was well known for her height, standing 6 ft 3 in (1.91 metres) tall in her prime. Early life Sālote (Charlotte) was born on 13 March 1900 in Tonga as the eldest daughter and heir of King George Tupou II of Tonga and his first wife, Queen Lavinia Veiongo. She was baptized and named after her great-grandmother Sālote Mafile‘o Pilolevu (daughter of George Tupou I). She was not popular, as she was perceived as being born from the 'wrong mother' because of her mother's lower rank and was disliked so much that it was not safe for her to go outside the palace. Her mother, Queen Lavinia, died from tuberculosis on 25 April 1902. After her death, the Chiefs in Tonga urged King George Tupou II for many years to remarry to produce a male heir. On 11 November 1909, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

George Tupou V
George Tupou V ( Tongan: Siaosi Tupou, full name: Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou; 4 May 194818 March 2012) was the King of Tonga from the death of his father Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV in 2006 until his own death six years later. Early life and education Prince Siaosi was born on 4 May 1948, as the eldest child of Crown Prince Tupoutoʻa-Tungī of Tonga (son of Queen Sālote Tupou III and Prince Viliami) and his wife Crown Princess Halaevalu. Tupou V attended King's School and King's College, both in Auckland. This was followed by periods at The Leys School in Cambridge, and another school in Switzerland. He also studied at Oxford University and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. Crown Prince Tupou V was appointed Crown Prince on 4 May 1966. In that role, he was better known by one of his traditional chiefly titles, Tupoutoʻa''. In 1974, though unmarried, Tupou V had a daughter, 'Ilima Lei Fifita Tohi. In 1997 she married police officer ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]