Kaliokalani

Who was Kaliokalani?

James Kaliokalani was a Hawaiian noble, member of the House of Kalākaua and brother of the last two rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Kaliokalani was born on May 29, 1835. His father was High Chief Caesar Kapaʻakea and mother High Chiefess Analea Keohokālole who were advisors to the reigning king Kamehameha III. He was the second born and eldest surviving son with eight siblings. He was a younger brother of Moses Kapaʻakea and older brother of David Kalākaua, Lydia Kamakaeha, Anna Kaiulani, Kaʻiminaʻauao, Miriam Likelike, and William Pitt Leleiohoku II.

He was hānai to his maternal grandfather High Chief Aikanaka. He attended the Royal School, founded in 1839 to westernize the Hawaiian royal children, run by American missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and Juliette Montague Cooke. His sister Lydia Kamakaeha and his brother David Kalākaua also attended the school. He was declared eligible to succeed the throne with the approval of the Privy Council by the orders of King Kamehameha III. He was once found in the room of Emma Rooke and severely punished by Cooke. Emma was not punished because her schoolmate Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau may have been with Emma and others. Emma was nine years old at the time and would one day marry Kamehameha IV.