Hawaii: Today in History 1/31

1-31-1835 William Charles Lunalilo, Monarch of Hawaii (d. 1874)

Lunalilo, born William Charles Lunalilo (January 31, 1835 – February 3, 1874), was the sixth monarch of Hawaiʻi from January 8, 1873 until February 3, 1874. Due to his popularity and status as Hawaii’s first elected monarch, he became known as “The People’s King”.

William Charles Lunalilo was born on January 31, 1835 in a two-story house made of coral brick, an area known as Pohukaina, now part the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu. His mother was High Chiefess Miriam Auhea Kekāuluohi (later styled as Kaʻahumanu III) and his father was High Chief Charles Kanaʻina. He was grandnephew of Kamehameha I by blood and the monarch’s stepson by marriage to his mother. His grandmother was Kalākua Kaheiheimālie, sister of Kamehameha’s favorite wife, Queen Kaʻahumanu. This made him both, a second cousin as well as first cousin to King Kamehameha V, King Kamehameha IV, and Princess Victoria Kamāmalu through their mothers: Kekāuluohi and Kīnaʻu (later styled as Kaʻahumanu II) who were half-sisters. Lunalilo translates as Luna (high) lilo (lost) or “so high up as to be lost to sight” in the Hawaiian language.[4] He was also named after King William IV of the United Kingdom, a great friend of the Hawaiian Royal Family.