Elizabeth Peke

Infobox Hawaiian Royalty
name = Elizabeth Peke Davis
title = High Chiefess Betty Davis


caption =
sucesssion =
reign =
coronation =
predecessor =
kuhina nui =
successor =
spouse = George Prince Kaumualii
Antone Sylva
issue = Harriet Kawahinekipi
full name = Elizabeth Peke Davis
titles =
royal house = Kekaulike
royal anthem =
father = Isaac Davis Aikake
mother = Kualakuna
date of birth = 1803
place of birth = Waimea, Hawaii Island
date of death = death year and age|1848|1803
place of death =
place of burial =

Elizabeth Peke Davis or sometimes Betty Davis (1803-1848) was an Hawaiian high chiefess being the hapa haole daughter of Isaac Davis Aikake, the Welsh advisor of Kamehameha the Great, who helped him unify the island in 1810. Some might consider her a Princess of Kauai by marriage for her husband was George Prince Kaumualii.

Early life

Betty was born on 12 Feb 1803 [ [http://www.kekoolani.org/Pages/9053%20Kekoolani%20Genealogy%20Database/pafg15.htm#284 Hawaiian Genealogy of Kekoolani and Other Familes - pafg15 - Generated by Personal Ancestral File] kekoolani.org] [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~royalty/hawaii/i341.html#I341 i341.html] ancestry.com] or 24 Dec 1803, at Waimea, Hawaii Island. Her 45 year old father, Isaac Davis one of Kamehameha's closest friends and advisor, from Milford Haven, Wales, who had been made a chief and given vast tract of land. Her mother was the chiefess Kualakuna, a distant relative of Kamehameha the Great, and her father's second marriage. [ [http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/usgenweb/hi/keepers/koc22.txt koc22] ancestry.com] She was given the name of Elizabeth and often referred to as Betty or "Peke", the Hawaiian version of Betty. She was the youngest sister of Sarah Kaniaulono Davis and George Hueu Davis.

Tragedy befelled her father in the seventh year of her life. Aikake was poisoned by the chiefs who were disliked the peaceful transaction of the Kingdom of Kauai, under King Kaumualii, to a vassal state of King Kamehameha. [ [http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/usgenweb/hi/keepers/koc27.txt koc27] ancestry.com] After his death, his companion, John Young, looked after his Betty and her brother and sister. Two of them were living with him in 1807, and after Davis's murder in 1810. Young continued to care for them and raised them alongside his five children James, her future-brother-in-law; Fanny, mother of Emma Rooke; Grace, hanai (foster) mother of Emma; John, priemer or kuhina nui; and Jane, mother of Peter Kaeo and Albert Kunuiakea, at his homestead at Kawaihae. In his will, dated 1834, he divided his lands equally between all his and Davis's children. [Campbell, Ian Christopher (1998) "Gone Native" in Polynesia: Captivity Narratives and Experiences from the South Pacific" Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN:0313307873. p.46]

Marriages

Betty married twice: Her first marriage was to George Humehume, or George P. Kaumualii, the son of King Kaumualii and Ni'ihau, a commoner. The records are contradictory as to whether Betty Davis was married to King Kaumualii or his son George Humehume, or both. George was only five years her senior and a veteran of the War of 1812. Due to her mother-in-law's status, George, was not in line to follow the father as King of Kauai or even vassal king of Kauai. George was well educate having been to New England for an education. [ [http://www.kekoolani.org/Pages/9053%20Kekoolani%20Genealogy%20Database/pafg15.htm#232 Hawaiian Genealogy of Kekoolani and Other Familes - pafg15 - Generated by Personal Ancestral File] kekoolani.org] Though some sources state he never returned; yet to him is credited the rebellion that ended the vassal status of Kauai and permantely made Kauai a part of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The decisive battle was fought near Hanapepe. Here the Kauaian rebels were completely routed. George Humehume, along with Betty was brought to Honolulu, where he died less than two years later. [Hawaii, Lei of Islands: A History of Catholic Hawaii By Adele Marie Lemon] Betty was widowed at age 23. George and Betty had a son in early 1821, but the boy died in February 1823. Mercy Whitney described the burial: "A regular procession of two and two followed the corpse. Going into the fort inwhic the grave was dug seemed like entering a burying ground, more so than anything I have witnessed since I left America." The fort referred to was Pa'ula'ula o Hipo, a former heiau. The infant was part Hawaiian and part foreign, a veritable conjugation of blood and culture. [Hawaii's Russian Adventure: A New Look at Old History By Peter R. Mills. Page 141] The only surviving issue of this union was a daughter, born in 1823, Honolulu, Oahu, prior their exile from Kauai. The little girl was named Harriet Kawahinekipi Kaumualii, following her father's surname. Apparentyly Betty and George had another daughter in 1821, that was said to have been given to another chiefess because George had no desired for a baby girl. [Hawaii's Russian Adventure: A New Look at Old History By Peter R. Mills. Page 258]

Betty last marriage was to Antone Sylva or also known as Antonio Sylva and this match was issueless. [ [http://homepage.mac.com/gencea/Nui/ps09/ps09_356.htm Antone SYLVA] mac.com]

Later life

Hiram Bingham described Betty in 1824: "Betty was more fair, of more European feature and slender make than most of her countrywomen at the age of 25 or 30; more taciturn, thoughtful, sedate, and retiring than others of equal rank and intelligence. She had derived some advantages from the instructions of the missionaries, and manifested some concern for her salvation. But her circumstances differed little from those of the wife of a petty chief of the lowest rank." [Hawaii's Russian Adventure: A New Look at Old History By Peter R. Mills. Page 252]

She died c. 1848, at the age of 45.

References