William Richards Castle
Encyclopedia
William Richards Castle (1849–1935) was a lawyer and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii
and Republic of Hawaii
.
(1808–1894), and mother was Mary Tenney (1819–1907). He was a namesake of William Richards
(1793–1847) who drafted the first constitution
of the kingdom. On October 12, 1875 he married Ida Beatrice Lowrey (1854–1926) on October 12, 1875 and had three children.
His brothers George Parmele Castle (1851–1932) and James Bicknell Castle
(1855–1918) became executives in the firm Castle & Cooke
which was co-founded by his father and Amos Starr Cooke
, and developed it into one of the "Big Five"
corporations that dominated the Territory of Hawaii
economy.
(then known as Oahu College) and then Oberlin College
in Ohio
and Harvard Law School
, earning an LL.B. degree in 1873. He practised law for two years in New York
before returning to Hawaii in 1876. He was officer and director of several corporations.
After Richard H. Stanley
died in office in 1875,
he was appointed to be Attorney General
for King David Kalākaua
from February to December 1876, when he was replaced by Alfred S. Hartwell
. He was elected to the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
in the House of Representatives from 1878 to 1886, and House of Nobles from 1887 to 1888. Oberlin awarded him an honorary degree in 1887.
He later became a member of Committee of Safety
, and member of Sons of the American Revolution
. After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, he served on commissions to lobby for annexation by the United States
, was president of the Board of Education, and commissioner of public lands.
in his name, focusing specifically on South Seas literature. His Ex libris bookplate
contains personal coat of arms
, arms of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and the Harvard College Shield
.
He died June 5, 1935 and was buried at the mission houses cemetery at Kawaiahao Church.
and elected to the Territorial legislature in 1911 and 1915-1918. He was a pitcher on the Harvard baseball team, and won 11 championships of the Hawaii Tennis Association. Alfred married Ethelinda Schaefer in 1908 and had a son Alfred Lowrey Castle Jr. and two other children. He was an active member of the American Alpine Club
since 1930.
Castle's oldest son, William Richards Castle, Jr.
was born June 19, 1878, became an educator, author and diplomat, and died October 14, 1963. His book Hawaii Past and Present, on the history and people of Hawaii, is dedicated to "My Father: Lifelong friend of the Hawaiian People; foremost among those who have laboured for the upbringing of the Islands—his unselfish devotion is the inspiration of his children."
He also had a daughter Beatrice who was born July 30, 1888, married Burton Edgar Newcomb, and died June 8, 1931.
A descendant directs a foundation in honor of the Castle family, and William Richards Castle was a founding trustee.
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 Republic of Hawaii
Republic of Hawaii
The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...
.
Family
William Richards Castle was born in Honolulu March 19, 1849. His father was Samuel Northrup CastleSamuel Northrup Castle
Samuel Northrup Castle was a businessman and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:Samuel Northrup Castle was born August 12, 1808 in Cazenovia, New York. His middle name is sometimes spelled "Northrop"...
(1808–1894), and mother was Mary Tenney (1819–1907). He was a namesake of William Richards
William Richards (Hawaii)
William Richards was a missionary and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Family life:William Richards was born in Plainfield, Massachusetts on August 22, 1793. His father was James Richards and mother was Lydia Shaw. He was schooled under Moses Hallock in Plainfield, attended Williams College...
(1793–1847) who drafted the first constitution
1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii
The 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii titled Ke Kumukānāwai a me nā Kānāwai o ko Hawai’i Pae ‘Āina, Honolulu, 1840 was the first fully written constitution for the Kingdom of Hawaii...
of the kingdom. On October 12, 1875 he married Ida Beatrice Lowrey (1854–1926) on October 12, 1875 and had three children.
His brothers George Parmele Castle (1851–1932) and James Bicknell Castle
James Bicknell Castle
James Bicknell Castle was a Honolulu businessman in times of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Republic of Hawaii and Territory of Hawaii.-Life:...
(1855–1918) became executives in the firm Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture...
which was co-founded by his father and Amos Starr Cooke
Amos Starr Cooke
Amos Starr Cooke was an educator and businessman in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was patriarch of a family that influenced Hawaii during the 20th century.-Life:Amos Starr Cooke was born in Danbury, Connecticut, December 1, 1810....
, and developed it into one of the "Big Five"
Big Five (Hawaii)
The Big Five was the name given to a group of what started as sugarcane processing corporations that wielded considerable political power in the Territory of Hawaii during the early 20th century and leaned heavily towards the Hawaii Republican Party. The Big Five were Castle & Cooke, Alexander &...
corporations that dominated the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...
economy.
Career
He attended Punahou SchoolPunahou School
Punahou School, once known as Oahu College, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu in the U.S. State of Hawaii...
(then known as Oahu College) and then Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, earning an LL.B. degree in 1873. He practised law for two years in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
before returning to Hawaii in 1876. He was officer and director of several corporations.
After Richard H. Stanley
Richard H. Stanley
Richard Henry Stanley was an American lawyer who served as politician and cabinet member of the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:Stanley was born circa 1823.On February 4, 1861 he became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii....
died in office in 1875,
he was appointed to be Attorney General
Attorney General of Hawaii
The Attorney General of Hawaii is the chief legal and law enforcement officer of Hawaii. In present-day statehood within the United States, he or she is appointed by the elected governor with the approval of the state senate and is responsible for a state department charged with advising the...
for King David Kalākaua
Kalakaua
Kalākaua, born David Laamea Kamanakapuu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua and sometimes called The Merrie Monarch , was the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaii...
from February to December 1876, when he was replaced by Alfred S. Hartwell
Alfred S. Hartwell
Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier, who then had another career as cabinet minister and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:Alfred Stedman Hartwell was born June 11, 1836 in South Natick, Massachusetts...
. He was elected to the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom
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...
in the House of Representatives from 1878 to 1886, and House of Nobles from 1887 to 1888. Oberlin awarded him an honorary degree in 1887.
He later became a member of Committee of Safety
Committee of Safety (Hawaii)
The Committee of Safety, formally the Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, was a 13-member group of the Hawaiian League also known as the Annexation Club...
, and member of Sons of the American Revolution
Sons of the American Revolution
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a Louisville, Kentucky-based fraternal organization in the United States...
. After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, he served on commissions to lobby for annexation by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, was president of the Board of Education, and commissioner of public lands.
Death and legacy
He bequeathed a book fund at Harvard College LibraryHarvard University Library
The Harvard University Library system comprises about 90 libraries, with more than 16 million volumes. It is the oldest library system in the United States, the largest academic and the largest private library system in the world...
in his name, focusing specifically on South Seas literature. His Ex libris bookplate
Bookplate
A bookplate, also known as ex-librīs [Latin, "from the books of..."], is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner...
contains personal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
, arms of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and the Harvard College Shield
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
He died June 5, 1935 and was buried at the mission houses cemetery at Kawaiahao Church.
Children
His son Alfred Lowrey Castle (1884–1972) also graduated from Harvard in 1906 and Harvard Law School, and joined the family firm of Castle & Withington in 1908. He then started his own law firm of Robertson, Castle and Olsen. Alfred was director of Alexander & BaldwinAlexander & Baldwin
Following World War II, the company entered a new business: land development and real estate. The company formed a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co., to develop housing in the Kahului area. In the following years, the company became more involved in the development of its land and the...
and elected to the Territorial legislature in 1911 and 1915-1918. He was a pitcher on the Harvard baseball team, and won 11 championships of the Hawaii Tennis Association. Alfred married Ethelinda Schaefer in 1908 and had a son Alfred Lowrey Castle Jr. and two other children. He was an active member of the American Alpine Club
American Alpine Club
The American Alpine Club, or AAC, was founded in 1902 by Charles Ernest Fay, and is the leading national organization in the United States devoted to mountaineering, climbing, and the multitude of issues facing climbers...
since 1930.
Castle's oldest son, William Richards Castle, Jr.
William Richards Castle, Jr.
William Richards Castle, Jr. was an educator and diplomat. With great wealth from his family's Hawaiian holdings, he rose rapidly to the highest levels of the United States Department of State. He took a strong interest in Pacific issues, in part because of his background in Hawaii.-Life:William...
was born June 19, 1878, became an educator, author and diplomat, and died October 14, 1963. His book Hawaii Past and Present, on the history and people of Hawaii, is dedicated to "My Father: Lifelong friend of the Hawaiian People; foremost among those who have laboured for the upbringing of the Islands—his unselfish devotion is the inspiration of his children."
He also had a daughter Beatrice who was born July 30, 1888, married Burton Edgar Newcomb, and died June 8, 1931.
A descendant directs a foundation in honor of the Castle family, and William Richards Castle was a founding trustee.