Robert Crichton Wyllie
Encyclopedia
Robert Crichton Wyllie was a Scottish physician and businessman. He also served two decades as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of Hawaii
.
parish of East Ayrshire
, Scotland
. His father was Alexander Wyllie. His mother, Janet Crichton, traced her descent from James Crichton
.
He attended the University of Glasgow
, earning a medical diploma by the time he was 20.
He left as a ship surgeon, intending to practice in Russia. He got as far as Valparaíso
in Chile
in 1818, then set up in practice in nearby Coquimbo
. After a few years he gave up medical practice and became a partner in a successful trading business. He took a small yacht, Daule, to Kolkata
, India (then called Calcutta), from 1824 to 1826, stopping in the Hawaiian islands
en route. His cousin William Edward Petty Hartnell
had settled near Monterey, California
since 1822, taking the name Don Guillermo and a Spanish wife.
Wyllie returned to England in 1830, and continued to grow his fortune in banking with a partner named Lyall. He joined the expensive Reform Club
in London
. In 1842 he left for Mexico
to investigate some of his investments in a group called the Spanish American Bondholders. Mexico was in financial trouble from the Texas Revolution
and had essentially mortgaged
vast amounts of land.
His cousin Hartnell provided detailed reports encouraging British settlement of California. He was involved with Manuel Micheltorena
, governor of Alta California
, and Wyllie proposed a plan to buy land in Sacramento Valley
and colonize California in 1843.
Writing about this episode, a historian says:
He stayed with British Consul
to Mexico (and fellow Scot) Alexander Forbes, hoping to get help from his investors for the California scheme. The investors, however, were willing to wait to get their money back. Irish priest Eugene McNamara led what would be the closest attempt to assert British influence in California. By the time McNamara acted, however, events such as the "Bear Flag Revolt" gave the United States effective control over California.
. Miller, although born in England, served as a general in the Latin American wars of independence under Simón Bolívar
. The two had met earlier in Valparaíso. Miller had just been appointed British Consul to the Kingdom of Hawaii
and convinced Wyllie to come with him while he was waiting for a response from his investors.
They arrived in Honolulu in January 1844 aboard . Miller continued on his voyage to Tahiti
, since he was assigned to oversee British relations to all Pacific Islands. Wyllie stayed in the Hawaiian islands for the rest of his life.
He was then appointed by King Kamehameha III
as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of War, and to the legislature in the House of Nobles
on March 26, 1845.
He was seen as a counter to the American influence of Gerrit P. Judd
, who had been a missionary doctor before becoming the first Treasurer, effectively the most powerful position in the country. Judd had also been acting as Minister of Foreign Affairs up to the appointment of Wyllie. Judd served about a year as Minister of Interior, and then was given the title Minister of Finance April 15, 1846.
One of his first assignments was to list the various complaints between the previous British Consul Richard Charlton
and the American Commissioner George Brown. Brown had been fairly universally disliked, and was removed by request of the Hawaiian government.
In 1847 he started collecting documents to form the Archives of Hawaii.
staged a French Invasion of Honolulu
. Tromelin sacked the city before sailing off with the king's yacht and other plunder. Judd and two young princes were sent to Europe to negotiate treaties, stopping in the United States on the way. Judd advocated annexation by the United States to protect against further actions by British and French.
Wyllie was more in favor of a simple treaty of Reciprocity
.
Former Hawaiian newspaper publisher James Jackson Jarves
negotiated a treaty with John M. Clayton
signed on December 20, 1849.
In the meanwhile, Judd had met Charles Eames, the new American Commissioner and negotiated his own treaty in October 1849. Eames had been appointed by President James Polk for this purpose, but got only as far as San Francisco when he got involved in the California Gold Rush
.
Eames was quickly replaced with Luther Severance
as U.S. Commissioner. By 1850 he had treaties signed by the United States, Britain, France, and Denmark.
Wyllie had suggested dismantling the old Honolulu Fort, since its outdated armaments had proven to be useless in preventing attacks anyway. In 1850 he proposed developing land around the Honolulu Harbor
including the old fort land. Distractions would prevent this from happening for several years.
A shipload of former gold prospectors led by Samuel Brannan
arrived in 1851. These came to be known as the "filibuster
s".
Brannan's men destroyed some mail on their ship, hoping to start a surprise rebellion, but Wyllie had already heard rumors and had them closely watched. After vacationing for the winter, they left without getting any popular support.
In March 1853 he bought a plantation on Hanalei Bay
on the north shore of the island of Kauai
. After an 1860 visit by Queen Emma of Hawaii
and her son Prince Albert Kamehameha
he named the plantation Princeville
. He named another part of the plantation Emmaville, but that name never stuck.
Originally the land was planted with Coffee
which was not suited to the wet lowlands. It was then planted with sugarcane
.
He was a founding member of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society in 1850, contributing many papers.
Another former Scottish physician, William Jardine
(1784–1843) had become wealthy trading opium
out of Hong Kong
. Wyllie made Jardine's nephews consuls to make sure the lucrative China trade continued.
When his sugar production was limited by a labor shortage, he proposed importing workers from Asia for plantation workers.
Elisha Hunt Allen
was American Consul 1850–1853.
David L. Gregg became the US commissioner 1853–1858.
A smallpox
epidemic in 1853 forced Judd to resign from the cabinet September 5, 1853.
By the end of 1853, foreign residents were pressuring the king to sign a treaty of annexation with the United States to protect them from more rumored insurrections.
Kamehameha IV
became king in January 1855, and kept Wyllie in the cabinet. The new king had seen American racism first-hand on his 1849 trip, so ended all negotiations for annexation.
James W. Borden
became the US commissioner in 1858, and Thomas J. Dryer
in 1861.
Kamehameha V
then came to power when Kamehameha IV died November 30, 1863 and also kept Wyllie in the cabinet.
A letter once appeared in the Ayr Advertiser
confusing Wyllie with English physician Thomas Charles Byde Rooke, who was adoptive father of Kamehameha IV's wife Queen Emma. It was titled "The Ayrshire Queen" and called Emma Wyllie's daughter.
,
but promoted continuing trade of sugar and other products to the expanding California market.
Meanwhile he quietly tried to lessen the influence of conservative American missionaries.
In 1859, Wyllie instructed the Hawaiian Consul in London, Manley Hopkins to send a priest from the Anglican church. He also contacted William Ingraham Kip
of the American Episcopal Church in California who supported the idea, but the Civil War prevented any help from them. Thomas Nettleship Staley
was consecrated as Bishop and arrived October, 1862 to start the Church of Hawaii
. This was a more liberal church with pomp and ceremony missing from the dour American sects.
Wyllie would even have dancing at his social events (previously prohibited as sinful), and held the first "fancy dress ball
", coming in Scottish Highland Dress
. He even invited the Catholic Bishop who came in his full Pontifical vestments
.
Wyllie encouraged Emma to write to Queen Victoria
, and despite the contrast in their respective dominions, they became lifelong friends. They exchanged condolences when their sons and then husbands died. Victoria sent an elborate silver cup and offered to be godmother (by proxy) of the young prince.
In 1862 Lady Jane Franklin was entertained by Wyllie at his estates. He proposed giving out peerage
titles, with Lady Jane as one of the first to be awarded. The Republican Americans would not allow it, but he did introduce court etiquette rules and official titles for the royalty. He insisted on formal European-style military uniforms for both royalty and cabinet officers, and favored decorative medals such as the Royal Order of Kamehameha I
.
who was serving as Minister of Finance, was his successor as Foreign Minister. He was the third person buried in the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii
, which had just been completed.
His nephew Robert Crichton Cockrane was named his heir, and changed his last name to Wyllie. Robert found out that the new sugar factory built on his Princeville plantation was deep in debt, and committed suicide in 1866. It was then bought by Elisha Hunt Allen at auction for a fraction of what Wyllie had spent on it.
A tomb built in 1904 was named for him, and his remains were moved there, along with members of the family of Queen Emma.
Rosebank was bought at auction by Charles Judd, son of Gerrit. Walter M. Gibson
wrote that the personal papers were thrown out of the house, but most have never been found. He then sold Rosebank to Frederick August Schaefer.
However, his meticulous records of public government business became the basis of the Hawaii State Archives.
A street is named Wyllie Road in the Princeville resort at 22°13′8"N 159°28′16"W. As Nuuanu Valley was developed, a Wyllie Street was named for him, opposite the site of his Rosebank estate at 21°19′38"N 157°50′45"W.
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
.
Early life
Wyllie was born October 13, 1798 in an area called Hazelbank in DunlopDunlop, East Ayrshire
Dunlop is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies on the A735, north-east of Stewarton, seven miles from Kilmarnock. The road runs on to Lugton and the B706 enters the village from Beith.-The village:...
parish of East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. His father was Alexander Wyllie. His mother, Janet Crichton, traced her descent from James Crichton
James Crichton
James Crichton, known as the Admirable Crichton , was a Scottish polymath noted for his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences before his killing when aged 21.-Life:...
.
He attended the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, earning a medical diploma by the time he was 20.
He left as a ship surgeon, intending to practice in Russia. He got as far as Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
in 1818, then set up in practice in nearby Coquimbo
Coquimbo
Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo lies in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than 400,000 inhabitants. The commune spans an area around the...
. After a few years he gave up medical practice and became a partner in a successful trading business. He took a small yacht, Daule, to Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, India (then called Calcutta), from 1824 to 1826, stopping in the Hawaiian islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
en route. His cousin William Edward Petty Hartnell
William Edward Petty Hartnell
William Edward Petty Hartnell, a.k.a. Don Guillermo Arnel was a prominent early immigrant to Alta California who played a vital role in the history of Monterey County, California as well as the history of California.-Early life:William Hartnell was born in Backbarrow, Lancashire, England, and...
had settled near Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
since 1822, taking the name Don Guillermo and a Spanish wife.
Wyllie returned to England in 1830, and continued to grow his fortune in banking with a partner named Lyall. He joined the expensive Reform Club
Reform Club
The Reform Club is a gentlemen's club on the south side of Pall Mall, in central London. Originally for men only, it changed to include the admission of women in 1981. In 2011 the subscription for membership of the Reform Club as a full UK member is £1,344.00, with a one-off entrance fee of £875.00...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1842 he left for Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to investigate some of his investments in a group called the Spanish American Bondholders. Mexico was in financial trouble from the Texas Revolution
Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...
and had essentially mortgaged
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
vast amounts of land.
His cousin Hartnell provided detailed reports encouraging British settlement of California. He was involved with Manuel Micheltorena
Manuel Micheltorena
Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...
, governor of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, and Wyllie proposed a plan to buy land in Sacramento Valley
Sacramento Valley
The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses all or parts of ten counties.-Geography:...
and colonize California in 1843.
Writing about this episode, a historian says:
...no drama in the Pacific was complete without the fastidious, meticulous and verbose Scots busybody, Dr. Robert Chrichton Wyllie.
He stayed with British Consul
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
to Mexico (and fellow Scot) Alexander Forbes, hoping to get help from his investors for the California scheme. The investors, however, were willing to wait to get their money back. Irish priest Eugene McNamara led what would be the closest attempt to assert British influence in California. By the time McNamara acted, however, events such as the "Bear Flag Revolt" gave the United States effective control over California.
Hawaii
Wyllie ran into his friend William Miller while in MazatlánMazatlán
Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio for which the city serves as the municipal seat is Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning...
. Miller, although born in England, served as a general in the Latin American wars of independence under Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
. The two had met earlier in Valparaíso. Miller had just been appointed British Consul to the Kingdom of Hawaii
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
and convinced Wyllie to come with him while he was waiting for a response from his investors.
They arrived in Honolulu in January 1844 aboard . Miller continued on his voyage to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, since he was assigned to oversee British relations to all Pacific Islands. Wyllie stayed in the Hawaiian islands for the rest of his life.
Politics and diplomacy
Wyllie first worked as acting British Consul until Miller returned March 15, 1845. During this time he compiled in-depth reports on the conditions in the islands.He was then appointed by King Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III was the King of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name was Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa Kalani Waiakua Kalanikau Iokikilo Kiwalao i ke kapu Kamehameha when he ascended the throne.Under his...
as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of War, and to the legislature in the House of Nobles
Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
The Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom was the bicameral legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii. A royal legislature was first provided by the 1840 Constitution and the 1852 Constitution was the first to use the term "Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom", and the first to subject the monarch to...
on March 26, 1845.
He was seen as a counter to the American influence of Gerrit P. Judd
Gerrit P. Judd
Gerrit Parmele Judd was an American physician and missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii who later became a trusted advisor and cabinet minister to King Kamehameha III.- Life :...
, who had been a missionary doctor before becoming the first Treasurer, effectively the most powerful position in the country. Judd had also been acting as Minister of Foreign Affairs up to the appointment of Wyllie. Judd served about a year as Minister of Interior, and then was given the title Minister of Finance April 15, 1846.
One of his first assignments was to list the various complaints between the previous British Consul Richard Charlton
Richard Charlton (Hawaii)
Richard Charlton was the first diplomatic Consul from Great Britain to the Kingdom of Hawaii 1825–1843. He was surrounded by controversies that caused a military occupation known as the Paulet Affair, and real estate claims that motivated the formalization of Hawaiian land titles.-Life:Richard...
and the American Commissioner George Brown. Brown had been fairly universally disliked, and was removed by request of the Hawaiian government.
In 1847 he started collecting documents to form the Archives of Hawaii.
Crises and treaties
On August 12, 1849, French admiral Louis TromelinLouis Tromelin
Louis-François-Marie-Nicolas Le Goarant de Tromelin was a nineteenth-century French Naval captain, sent to the Pacific Ocean on political and military missions, and credited with the discovery of Phoenix Island in the Phoenix group and Fais Island in the Carolines...
staged a French Invasion of Honolulu
French Invasion of Honolulu
The French Invasion of Honolulu was an attack on Honolulu by Louis Tromelin for the persecution of Catholics and repression on French trade.-Prelude:...
. Tromelin sacked the city before sailing off with the king's yacht and other plunder. Judd and two young princes were sent to Europe to negotiate treaties, stopping in the United States on the way. Judd advocated annexation by the United States to protect against further actions by British and French.
Wyllie was more in favor of a simple treaty of Reciprocity
Reciprocity (international relations)
In international relations and treaties, the principle of reciprocity states that favours, benefits, or penalties that are granted by one state to the citizens or legal entities of another, should be returned in kind....
.
Former Hawaiian newspaper publisher James Jackson Jarves
James Jackson Jarves
James Jackson Jarves was an American newspaper editor, and art critic who is remembered above all as the first American art collector to buy Italian primitives and Old Masters....
negotiated a treaty with John M. Clayton
John M. Clayton
John Middleton Clayton was an American lawyer and politician from Delaware. He was a member of the Whig Party who served in the Delaware General Assembly, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware and U.S. Secretary of State....
signed on December 20, 1849.
In the meanwhile, Judd had met Charles Eames, the new American Commissioner and negotiated his own treaty in October 1849. Eames had been appointed by President James Polk for this purpose, but got only as far as San Francisco when he got involved in the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
.
Eames was quickly replaced with Luther Severance
Luther Severance
Luther Severance was a United States Representative and diplomat from Maine.-Life:He was born in Montague, Massachusetts on October 26, 1797. He moved with his parents to Cazenovia, New York in 1799. He attended the common schools, and learned the printer's trade in Peterboro, New York.He...
as U.S. Commissioner. By 1850 he had treaties signed by the United States, Britain, France, and Denmark.
Wyllie had suggested dismantling the old Honolulu Fort, since its outdated armaments had proven to be useless in preventing attacks anyway. In 1850 he proposed developing land around the Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor, also called Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou, is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. It is from Honolulu Harbor, located on Mamala Bay, that the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, in an outward fashion, over the course of the...
including the old fort land. Distractions would prevent this from happening for several years.
A shipload of former gold prospectors led by Samuel Brannan
Samuel Brannan
Samuel Brannan was an American settler, businessman, and journalist, who founded the "California Star" newspaper in San Francisco, California...
arrived in 1851. These came to be known as the "filibuster
Filibuster (military)
A filibuster, or freebooter, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution...
s".
Brannan's men destroyed some mail on their ship, hoping to start a surprise rebellion, but Wyllie had already heard rumors and had them closely watched. After vacationing for the winter, they left without getting any popular support.
Mixing business
Wyllie built a house in Nuuanu Valley he called Rosebank. He entertained foreign visitors at the house, and the area today still has several consular buildings.In March 1853 he bought a plantation on Hanalei Bay
Hanalei Bay
Hanalei Bay is the largest bay on the north shore of Kauai island in Hawaii. The town of Hanalei is at the mid-point of the bay.Hanalei Bay consists of nearly two miles of beach, surrounded by mountains. In the summer, the bay offers excellent mooring for sailboats, stand up paddle boarding and...
on the north shore of the island of Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
. After an 1860 visit by Queen Emma of Hawaii
Queen Emma of Hawaii
Queen Consort Emma Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonālani Naea Rooke of Hawaii was queen consort of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She ran for ruling monarch against King David Kalākaua but was defeated....
and her son Prince Albert Kamehameha
Albert Kamehameha
Prince Albert Kamehameha, formally Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha , was the only son of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, who during his short life was the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Hawaii...
he named the plantation Princeville
Princeville, Hawaii
Princeville is a census-designated place on the north shore of the island of Kauai in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 1,698 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Princeville is located at ....
. He named another part of the plantation Emmaville, but that name never stuck.
Originally the land was planted with Coffee
Coffea
Coffea is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Seeds of several species are the source of the popular beverage coffee. Coffee ranks as one of the world's most valuable and widely traded...
which was not suited to the wet lowlands. It was then planted with sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
.
He was a founding member of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society in 1850, contributing many papers.
Another former Scottish physician, William Jardine
William Jardine (surgeon)
William Jardine was a Scottish physician and merchant. He co-founded the Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine, Matheson and Company. From 1841 to 1843, he was Member of Parliament for Ashburton as a Whig....
(1784–1843) had become wealthy trading opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
out of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Wyllie made Jardine's nephews consuls to make sure the lucrative China trade continued.
When his sugar production was limited by a labor shortage, he proposed importing workers from Asia for plantation workers.
Annexation delayed
Wyllie would outlast many of his rivals and colleagues.Elisha Hunt Allen
Elisha Hunt Allen
Elisha Hunt Allen was an American congressman, lawyer, diplomat, and judge and diplomat for the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:Elisha Hunt Allen was born January 28, 1804 in New Salem, Massachusetts. His father was Massachusetts minister, lawyer, and politician Samuel Clesson Allen and mother was Mary...
was American Consul 1850–1853.
David L. Gregg became the US commissioner 1853–1858.
A smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic in 1853 forced Judd to resign from the cabinet September 5, 1853.
By the end of 1853, foreign residents were pressuring the king to sign a treaty of annexation with the United States to protect them from more rumored insurrections.
Kamehameha IV
Kamehameha IV
Kamehameha IV, born Alexander Iolani Liholiho Keawenui , reigned as the fourth king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from January 11, 1855 to November 30, 1863.-Early life:...
became king in January 1855, and kept Wyllie in the cabinet. The new king had seen American racism first-hand on his 1849 trip, so ended all negotiations for annexation.
James W. Borden
James W. Borden
James Wallace Borden was an American jurist in Indiana and diplomat.-Life:James Wallace Borden was born near Beaufort, North Carolina on February 5, 1810.His father was Joseph Borden and mother Esther Wallace ....
became the US commissioner in 1858, and Thomas J. Dryer
Thomas J. Dryer
Thomas Jefferson Dryer was a newspaper publisher, Freemason, mountain climber, and politician in the Western United States.He was born on January 10, 1808, in Ulster County, New York. Dryer founded the Weekly Oregonian, which has survived as the daily Oregonian, and served as its publisher...
in 1861.
Kamehameha V
Kamehameha V
aloghaKamehameha V , born as Lot Kapuāiwa, reigned as monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1863 to 1872. His motto was "Onipa`a": immovable, firm, steadfast or determined; he worked diligently for his people and kingdom and was described as the last great traditional chief...
then came to power when Kamehameha IV died November 30, 1863 and also kept Wyllie in the cabinet.
A letter once appeared in the Ayr Advertiser
Ayr Advertiser
The Ayr Advertiser is a weekly Scottish local newspaper, serving the community of South Ayrshire with local news, issues and sports coverage. The Ayr Advertiser is Scotland's oldest weekly newspaper.. The paper is part of the Ayr Advertiser Series, which incorporates the Troon and Prestwick Times...
confusing Wyllie with English physician Thomas Charles Byde Rooke, who was adoptive father of Kamehameha IV's wife Queen Emma. It was titled "The Ayrshire Queen" and called Emma Wyllie's daughter.
"Holy war"
Wyllie kept Hawaii officially neutral during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
,
but promoted continuing trade of sugar and other products to the expanding California market.
Meanwhile he quietly tried to lessen the influence of conservative American missionaries.
In 1859, Wyllie instructed the Hawaiian Consul in London, Manley Hopkins to send a priest from the Anglican church. He also contacted William Ingraham Kip
William Ingraham Kip
William Ingraham Kip was an American Protestant Episcopal bishop.-Early life:Kip was born in New York City, of Breton ancestry, the son of Leonard Kip and Maria Kip. He graduated at Yale in 1831. After briefly studying law, Kip turned to a clerical calling and graduated from the General...
of the American Episcopal Church in California who supported the idea, but the Civil War prevented any help from them. Thomas Nettleship Staley
Thomas Nettleship Staley
Thomas Nettleship Staley was a British bishop of the Church of England and the first Anglican bishop of the Church of Hawaii.-Life:Thomas Nettleship Staley was born 17 January 1823 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England...
was consecrated as Bishop and arrived October, 1862 to start the Church of Hawaii
Church of Hawaii
The Church of Hawaii, originally called the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church, was the national church of the Kingdom of Hawaii and a member of the Anglican Communion from 1862 to 1893.-History:...
. This was a more liberal church with pomp and ceremony missing from the dour American sects.
Wyllie would even have dancing at his social events (previously prohibited as sinful), and held the first "fancy dress ball
Costume party
A fancy dress party or a costume party , mainly in contemporary Western culture, is a type of party where guests dress up in a costume.-Fancy dress parties in Britain:...
", coming in Scottish Highland Dress
Kilt
The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly...
. He even invited the Catholic Bishop who came in his full Pontifical vestments
Pontifical vestments
Pontifical vestments, also referred to as episcopal vestments or pontificals, are the liturgical vestments worn by bishops in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, in addition to the usual priestly vestments for the celebration of the Mass...
.
Wyllie encouraged Emma to write to Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, and despite the contrast in their respective dominions, they became lifelong friends. They exchanged condolences when their sons and then husbands died. Victoria sent an elborate silver cup and offered to be godmother (by proxy) of the young prince.
In 1862 Lady Jane Franklin was entertained by Wyllie at his estates. He proposed giving out peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
titles, with Lady Jane as one of the first to be awarded. The Republican Americans would not allow it, but he did introduce court etiquette rules and official titles for the royalty. He insisted on formal European-style military uniforms for both royalty and cabinet officers, and favored decorative medals such as the Royal Order of Kamehameha I
Royal Order of Kamehameha I (decoration)
The Royal Order of Kamehameha I was founded on 11 April 1865 by King Kamehameha V in memory of his grandfather King Kamehameha I and in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Hawaii. This Order was granted to both native Hawaiians and foreigners for distinguished...
.
Legacy
Wyllie died October 19, 1865. Charles de VarignyCharles de Varigny
Charles Victor Crosnier de Varigny was a French adventurer, diplomat, and writer.He was born November 25, 1829 in Versailles.He was educated at Lycée Bourbon. He came with his father to the California Gold Rush...
who was serving as Minister of Finance, was his successor as Foreign Minister. He was the third person buried in the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii
Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii
The Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii, known as Mauna Ala in the Hawaiian language, is the final resting place of Hawaii's two prominent royal families: the Kamehameha Dynasty and the Kalākaua Dynasty.-Description:...
, which had just been completed.
His nephew Robert Crichton Cockrane was named his heir, and changed his last name to Wyllie. Robert found out that the new sugar factory built on his Princeville plantation was deep in debt, and committed suicide in 1866. It was then bought by Elisha Hunt Allen at auction for a fraction of what Wyllie had spent on it.
A tomb built in 1904 was named for him, and his remains were moved there, along with members of the family of Queen Emma.
Rosebank was bought at auction by Charles Judd, son of Gerrit. Walter M. Gibson
Walter M. Gibson
Walter Murray Gibson was an American adventurer and a government minister in the Kingdom of Hawaii prior to the kingdom's 1887 constitution.-Life:...
wrote that the personal papers were thrown out of the house, but most have never been found. He then sold Rosebank to Frederick August Schaefer.
However, his meticulous records of public government business became the basis of the Hawaii State Archives.
A street is named Wyllie Road in the Princeville resort at 22°13′8"N 159°28′16"W. As Nuuanu Valley was developed, a Wyllie Street was named for him, opposite the site of his Rosebank estate at 21°19′38"N 157°50′45"W.