Nancy Sumner

Nancy Wahinekapu Sumner
Born (1839-03-09)March 9, 1839
Honolulu, Oahu
Died January 10, 1895(1895-01-10) (aged 55)
Honolulu, Oahu
Spouse Charles Kuinao Ellis
Issue William Kualiʻi Sumner Ellis
Victoria Kualiʻi Sumner Ellis Buffandeau
John Kapilikea Sumner Ellis
Full name
Nancy Wahinekapu Sumner Ellis
Father William Keolaloa Kahānui Sumner
Mother Manaiʻula Tehuiariʻi
Nancy Sumner (right) in the fashion of a pāʻū rider

Nancy Wahinekapu Sumner (March 9, 1839 – January 10, 1895) was a high chiefess during the Kingdom of Hawaii of Hawaiian, Tahitian and English descent. She served as lady-in-waiting of Queen Emma and was one of the most prominent ladies of the Hawaiian royal court during the reigns of Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V.

Biography

Born in 1839, Nancy Wahinekapu Sumner was a member of the Sumner family of part English, Hawaiian, and Tahitian descent.[1] She was the only child of William Keolaloa Kahānui Sumner, a hapa-haole (part Caucasian) Hawaiian high chief, and Manaiʻula Tehuiariʻi, a Tahitian princess and relative of the Pōmare Dynasty of Tahiti. Her maternal grandfather Tute Tehuiariʻi, was the adoptive son of King Pōmare I and the royal chaplain of King Kamehameha III and Kamehameha IV.[2] A cousin of her mother's was the famous Princess Ninito Sumner, who had been betrothed to a Hawaiian prince but married her uncle John Kapilikea Sumner instead.[3] Her paternal grandparents were High Chiefess Keakuaaihue Kanealai Hua and the British Captain William Sumner (1786–1847), of Northampton. Captain Sumner arrived in Hawaii in 1807 as a cabin boy; initially befriending Kauai's king Kaumualii, he later served as a naval captain under King Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810.[4][5] Her paternal grandmother Hua was the cousin and hānai (adoptive) sister of high Chiefess Ahia Beckley, wife of Captain George C. Beckley, who was one of the reputed designers of the Flag of Hawaii. Related to the Kamehamehas through Uminuikukaailani, her grandmother descended from the famous twins Kahānui and Kaha‘opulani, the Kohala chiefs who reared Kamehameha during his infancy.[2][6] Her younger half-sister was Elizabeth Keawepoʻoʻole Sumner (1850–1911).[7]

She was educated by Hawaiian and foreign tutors and entered Mrs. Gummer's School for young girls at the age of seven. In 1854, she was placed at the Royal School, the former Chiefs' Children's School, to finished her formal education under the tutelage of missionary teacher Edward Griffin Beckwith. Her classmates included Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, the future Queen Liliuokalani and other members of the Hawaiian nobility.[8] Her family ancestry and connections to the ruling families of Hawaii and Tahiti allowed her to associate with many members of the royal family of Hawaii. Nancy became a prominent lady of the court during the reigns of King Kamehameha IV and King Kamehameha V, serving from 1858 as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Emma and becoming a close friend to Princess Victoria Kamāmalu.[9] Nancy Sumner was regarded as one of the most beautiful chiefesses of her generation and many asked for her hand in marriage. In 1865, she met and befriended the Anglo-Irish aristocrat Lord Charles Beresford, R.N., while he was a midshipman on board the steam-corvette HMS Clio. Beresford fell in love with Nancy and proposed to her four years later in 1869, but she refused likely due to their social and racial differences.[10]

Nancy Sumner became notorious for her many romantic liaisons and suitors. However, after rejecting the suit of the reigning king Kamehameha V, she found herself ostracized from the Hawaiian royal court. She married her coachman Charles Kuinao Ellis (1852–1877) on December 11, 1873. Her husband possessed no wealth and was of low genealogical rank, which prompted her father William K. K. Sumner to disinherit her and her descendants. Her husband died in 1877 leaving her a widow. She focused the remainder of her life on educating their children. Sumner and Ellis had three children: William Kualiʻi Sumner Ellis (1874–?), Victoria Kualiʻi Sumner Ellis (1875–1921) and John Kapilikea Sumner Ellis (1877–1914).[11] Her two sons became famous Hawaiian musicians and were members of the Royal Hawaiian Band.[12] Her daughter Victoria married Eugene Derville Buffandeau and has living descendants.[13] Nancy Sumner herself died on January 10, 1895 from an asthma attack.[11][14][15]

References

  1. ↑ Topolinski February 1976, p. 2.
  2. 1 2 Topolinski 1981, p. 51.
  3. ↑ Taylor 1929, pp. 433–440.
  4. ↑ Daws 1968, p. 89.
  5. ↑ Kaeo & Queen Emma 1976, p. 127.
  6. ↑ Topolinski February 1976, pp. 2–4.
  7. ↑ Topolinski January 1976, pp. 5–6.
  8. ↑ Topolinski 1981, pp. 51–52.
  9. ↑ Topolinski 1981, pp. 50–51.
  10. ↑ Topolinski 1981, pp. 52–55.
  11. 1 2 Topolinski 1981, pp. 55–56.
  12. ↑ Topolinski & Kanahele 1979, pp. 73–74.
  13. ↑ Topolinski March 1976, pp. 3–8.
  14. ↑ "Death of a Schoolmate of Several Royal Persons". The Daily Bulletin IX (1235) (Honolulu). January 12, 1895. p. 1.
  15. ↑ "Local Brevities". The Pacific commercial advertiser XXI (3889) (Honolulu). January 11, 1895. p. 7.

Bibliography

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