Jane Lahilahi

Jane Lahilahi Young Kaokinaeo (May 1813 – January 12, 1862) was a Hawaiian high chiefess and a daughter of John Young Olohana royal advisor of Kamehameha the Great. She was Emma Kaleleonalani's maternal aunt. Her niece was Jane Lahilahi Young Nuuanu, born one year prior to her and daughter of her half-brother James.

Early life

She was born in May 1813, in Kawaihae, in Kohala District, on the Island of Hawai'i. Her aging father was John Young the royal advisor of Kamehameha the Great, from Lancashire, England, who had been made made a chief and given a vast tract of land. He mother was the High Chiefess Kaokinaoanaokinaeha, the niece of Kamehameha the Great. She was given the name of Jane and sometimes referred to as Jenny or "Gini" the Hawaiian version of Jane. She was raised on her father's homestead situated on a barren hillside overlooking the Kawaihae Bay, on a piece of land Kamehameha had parceled out to her father on the Big Island of Hawaiokinai. She grew up with her two sisters, Fanny and Grace, and her brother, John. Fanny was eldest, Grace was second, John was third, and she was the youngest. She had two elder half-brother by her father's first marriage, to Namokuelua, and they were Robert and James. Her siblings were "hapa-haole" or part Caucasian but still of a aliokinai (royal) status.

Family

She was clever as well as a little frivolous. An amusing poet, she was skilled in the old allusive figurative style of her mother's ancestors. She married Joshua Kaeo, a Hawaiian chief sometimes Judge of the Supreme Court, and great grandson of King Kalaniopuu. She bore him two sons named Peter Kaeo, who attended Royal School and was adopted to her brother John; and Keliimaikai "Alebada" Kaeo. [ [http://homepage.mac.com/gencea/Nui/ps03/ps03_060.htm Jane “Gini or Kini” Lahilahi YOUNG ] ] . She later became a royal mistress of Kamehameha III and bore him twin son, Keoua and Albert Kunuiakea. Keoua died as an infant but Albert lived to adulthood. Her son Albert was raised as a "hanai" (adopted) of Kamehameha III's queen, Kalama and lived on to be the last of theKamehameha Dynasty.

Death and Burial

She died in Honolulu, Oahu, January 12, 1862. [http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Hawaii/hawaii5.htm] Being the maternal aunt of Queen Emma and daughter of John Young and Kaoanaeha, she was considered royal, so she was buried in the Wyllie Crypt, Mauna 'Ala (The Royal Mausoleum) along with many of the Young Family.

Notes

References

*Kanahele, George S.. Emma: Hawai'i's Remarkable Queen : a Biography . University of Hawaii Press, 1999.