Description:

King Kalakaua of Hawaii offers his greetings to a British diplomat

KING DAVID KALAKAUA (1836-1891) His signature, "Kalakaua," with inscription, 1 page, 4.75" x 7.75" on gold-embossed royal letterhead, [n.p., Hawaii], [n.d., c. 1881?]. Minor contemporary ink smudges, else fine.

Kalakaua, offers his greetings to William Webb Follett Synge, a British diplomat who served in Hawaii from 1861 to 1865. The inscription reads: "Aloha or Synge Kalakaua."

Below, in another hand is a "Translation," which reads: "My love to you Synge."

The recipient, William Webb Follett Synge (1826-1891) was a career diplomat who began as a clerk in the Foreign office in 1846. From 1851 to 1853 he served as an Attaché with the British Legation in Washington before joining special commission to Central America, where he remained until 1859. In 1861 Queen Victoria appointed him Commissioner and Consul-General for the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). In 1865 Synge accompanied Queen Emma during her visit to England, and from that year until his retirement in 1868, he served as Consul-General and Commissary Judge in Cuba. Synge was a longtime friend of William Makepeace Thackeray. (The Times, London, June 4, 1891, 10).

During Synge's tenure in Hawaii, Kalakaua was serving as officer on the staff of King Kamehameha IV as well as working in the Department of the Interior, and from 1863 as postmaster general for the islands. During his reign as King of Hawaii, he undertook a trip around the world including visits with leaders from the Americas, Asia and Europe including an audience with Queen Victoria. It may have been during this visit that Synge obtained Kalakaua's autograph.

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