Godfrey Rhodes (March 8, 1815 – September 8, 1897) was a royal advisor on the Privy Councils of State to Hawaiian monarchs Kamehameha V, Lunalilo, Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani. He was both vice president and president of the legislative assemblies of the
Kingdom of Hawaii.
Background
He was born in England and left home circa 1835 to work for the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
, based out of
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of th ...
, at what is now
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...
. Rhodes signed on with the
packet boat
Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...
''Columbia'', later working on the schooner ''Unity''. His work took him up and down the north American coastline, as well as to the Hawaiian islands. He would later recall that
indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast liked to visit Hawaii, and in 1839 it became his job to transport them back to their point of origin. It was on that voyage where he also transported United States consular agent
John Coffin Jones Jr. to Acapulco.
Godfrey Rhodes and a partner named Bernard established a
coffea
''Coffea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. ''Coffea'' species are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. The seeds of some species, called coffee beans, are used to flavor vario ...
plantation at
Hanalei on the island of
Kauai in 1842. In 1855, he quit the coffee plantation business, believing he had been unsuccessful in the endeavor.
[
]
Government service
During the reign of Kamehameha III, the 1845 organic act to "Organize the Executive Ministry" formally established the Privy Council of the Hawaiian Kingdom
The Privy Council of the Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the King's Privy Council of State or Queen's Privy Council of State ( haw, Ka Mōʻī ʻAha Kūkākūkā Malu o ke Aupuni), was a constitutionally-created body of advisers to the sovereign of ...
(Ka Mōʻī ʻAha Kūkākūkā Malu o ke Aupuni). Cabinet ministers, governors of the four major islands of the kingdom, and other members the monarch appointed to act in an advisory capacity, made up the composition of the council. According to the Hawaii state archives, Rhodes was a member of the Privy Council of the Hawaiian Kingdom
The Privy Council of the Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the King's Privy Council of State or Queen's Privy Council of State ( haw, Ka Mōʻī ʻAha Kūkākūkā Malu o ke Aupuni), was a constitutionally-created body of advisers to the sovereign of ...
through the reigns of Kamehameha V, Lunalilo
Lunalilo (William Charles Lunalilo; January 31, 1835 – February 3, 1874) was the sixth monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii from his election on January 8, 1873, until his death a year later.
Born to Kekāuluohi and High Chief Charles Kanaʻina, ...
, Kalākaua
Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ...
and Liliʻuokalani
Liliʻuokalani (; Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Kamakaʻeha; September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917) was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, ruling from January 29, 1891, until the overthrow of the Haw ...
.
First elected to the legislative assembly in 1851, he represented Kauai as a member of the House of Representatives (Hale ʻAhaʻōlelo Makaʻāinana) for the years 1851, 1866, 1868. He was vice president of the legislative assembly in 1866 and 1868. Kalākaua
Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ...
appointed him to the House of Nobles (Hale ʻAhaʻōlelo Aliʻi) for the years 1878-1886. He was president of the legislative assembly in 1878 and 1886.
Rhodes had been in ill health in 1882 when Henri Berger
Henry or Henri Berger (August 4, 1844 – October 14, 1929) was a Prussian Kapellmeister, composer and royal bandmaster of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1872 to 1915.
Biography
Berger was born Heinrich August Wilhelm Berger in Berlin, and became a ...
and the Royal Hawaiian Band
The Royal Hawaiian Band is the oldest and only full-time municipal band in the United States. At present a body of the City & County of Honolulu, the Royal Hawaiian Band has been entertaining Honolulu residents and visitors since its inception i ...
celebrated his life with a concert on his lawn. In a subsequent newspaper interview, Rhodes recalled many events of his life, including the night Kamehameha IV
Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title ''Ke Aliʻi ...
died on November 30, 1863. He and a number of friends had gathered in the king's residence, but Queen Emma informed them that the king was too ill to receive visitors. He and his friends left, and the king died within an hour of their departure. Twenty-eight years later, he was one of a small group at Kalākaua
Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ...
's death bed at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on January 20, 1891.
Later years and death
Rhodes married Nancy Chapman on January 24, 1882. The union produced his only child, Ada Tree Rhodes. He had been in ill health for some time, and died of blood poisoning
Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is foll ...
on September 8, 1897.[ Income from his estate went to his widow; upon her death the estate passed to their daughter. The grandchildren would inherit upon the deaths of both the wife and the daughter. In the absence of any living heirs, half of his estate would go to his wife's relatives, and the other half designated for charities in New York and Hawaii.
After a funeral attended by about 100 people at the Catholic Cathedral, officiated by Father Clement and the Bishop of Panapolis, he was buried in a Catholic Cemetery on King Street. Pall bearers were Republic of Hawaii president ]Sanford B. Dole
Sanford Ballard Dole (April 23, 1844 – June 9, 1926) was a lawyer and jurist from the Hawaiian Islands. He lived through the periods when Hawaii was a kingdom, protectorate, republic, and territory. A descendant of the American missionary ...
, William Owen Smith
William Owen Smith (August 4, 1848 – April 13, 1929) was a lawyer from a family of American missionaries who participated in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was attorney general for the entire duration of the Provisional Governmen ...
, Thomas Rain Walker (British vice consul to Hawaii), James I. Dowsett, Henry Waterhouse, William Fessenden Allen, J. A. Cummins, Joseph O. Carter and Alatau T. Atkinson. The funeral cortege was accompanied by 16 police officers under Commander Fernandes. Henri Berger led the Royal Hawaiian Band at the burial.
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Godfrey
1815 births
1897 deaths
British emigrants to the Hawaiian Kingdom
People from Kauai
People from Honolulu
People of the Republic of Hawaii
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council