Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Island Chronicles | May/June 2003

Island Chronicles

Foreign Aide

Although a foreigner, Englishman John Young became Kamehameha's close adviser and was the grandfather of a Hawaiian queen

Two trusted companions kept watch at Kamehameha's side in the final moments of his life. Both men were his devoted friends and had been advisers and comrades-in-battle during his rise to power. One was the chief Hoapili, who had the responsibility of concealing Kamehameha's remains after death. The other was the Englishman John Young.

How had an Englishman-a foreigner-come to be part of Kamehameha's close inner circle?
John Young was born in Crosley, England, in 1744. He served as a common seaman on both sides of the Atlantic and sailed in the winter of 1789-90 from New York to the Hawaiian Islands on the Eleanora, under Capt. Simon Metcalfe. In February 1790, at Olowalu, Maui, Young was a witness to the violent hostility between Hawaiians and foreigners that erupted into a massacre of innocent natives. After the incident, the Eleanora sailed for the island of Hawai'i, where Young went ashore to explore the countryside, armed with a musket and a sword. There, he was taken captive by Kamehameha.

Kamehameha understood the value of the skills that this foreigner possessed. Young was a marksman and knew about firearms. In addition, 'Olohana (the Hawaiian name given to Young, for "All-Hands") knew how to manage the confiscated foreign vessels that Kamehameha used in his campaign to gain control of the Islands. Thus, John Young's life was spared. For the same reason, another captive, Isaac Davis, was also allowed to live; he was the sole survivor of an attack on the Eleanora's tender, the Fair American.

Kamehameha now had a big technological advantage over enemy chiefs. With an armed fleet of canoes, he went to war against his Maui rival, Kalanikupule. One victory led to many, and Kamehameha's gratitude to his foreigners for their loyalty and counsel took the form of status, land and the comforts of life.

John Young remained in Hawai'i, living to the age of 91. His descendants all had the blood of chiefs flowing in their veins, for his wives were women of high rank. Young's first wife was the chiefess Namokuelua. Their son, James Kanehoa, was an influential member of the court of Kamehameha II. On the king's 1823 visit to England, Kanehoa was entrusted with the official letters of introduction and served as translator. This visit ended sadly, for Kamehameha II, his queen and three other chiefs contracted the measles and died abroad.

James Kanehoa had a brother named Robert Young, born in 1796. In 1802, Robert was sent to Boston for a proper American education. He entered the American Navy at age 16, served in the War of 1812 and was taken as a prisoner to Bermuda, where he became lost to history.
John Young's second wife was the chiefess Ka'oana'eha. Genealogists disagree over the identity of her father-some credit Kamehameha's younger brother, Keli'imaika'i, others say it was Kaleipaihala, the son of chief Kalani'opu'u.

John Young and Ka'oana'eha had at least one son (John) and three daughters (Fanny, Grace and Jane). Son John, or Keoni Ana, or Keoni 'Opio, served as governor of Maui and, later, premier of the kingdom under Kamehameha III. He married the chiefess Julia Alapa'i; they had no children.

Of Young's three daughters, Jane had two sons, Fanny had a daughter and Grace was childless. In the ancient tradition, Fanny gave her daughter to Grace for adoption. Grace and her husband, the British physician T.C.B. Rooke, raised this child with solid morals and a sense of service that had become a trademark of John Young's bloodline. This prepared her well for her future life-as Queen Emma, wife of Kamehameha IV.

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