George Charles Mo'oheau Kauluheimalama Beckley (May 5, 1849 – July 4, 1910) was a member of Liliʻuokalani's Privy Council of State from 1891 to 1892, and a director of the Wilder Steamship Company. Born of Hawaiian and British ancestry, his native Hawaiian forebears were reputed to have helped hide the bones of Kamehameha I. Like his British grandfather who was an advisor to Kamehameha I, he chose a life sailing the seas. In his youth, he joined whaling expeditions and survived a hijacking spree by pirates who captured 29 ships. Beckley was one of 50 Hawaiian crew members who were rescued from multiple vessels and sent safely back to Hawaii. He found his life's career with Hawaii's inter-island steamships, where he partnered with Samuel G. Wilder. Beckley was awarded the Royal Order of the Star of Oceania and the Order of the Crown of Hawaii by King Kalākaua.
Family background
Born in Waimea, on the island of Hawaii, George Charles Mo'oheau Kauluheimalama Beckley was the second son and third child of Hawaiian chiefess Kahinu and William Charles Malulani Kaleipaihala Beckley (1814–1871). He was considered a high chief in Hawaiian royalty. His elder siblings were brother Frederick William Kahapula Beckley Sr. (1845–1881), who was Governor of Kauaʻi under King Kalākaua, and sister Maria Beckley Kahea (1847–1909), a lady-in-waiting to Queen Kapiʻolani, and kahu of the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii.
Both his parents were of aliʻi (royal) descent through the 15th century ruler Līloa of the island of Hawaii. His maternal lineage descended from Kameʻeiamoku (died 1802), one of the royal twins (with Kamanawa) who advised Kamehameha I in his conquest of the Hawaiian Islands. Beckley's mother Kahinu was the daughter of Hoʻolulu who, along with half-brother Hoapili, helped conceal the bones of King Kamehameha I in a secret hiding place after the ruler's death. According to legend, only one individual in each generation of Hoʻolulu‘s family was given knowledge of the location of the royal bones. On his paternal side, his British grandfather George Charles Beckley (1787–1826) was a sea captain who became an adviser to Kamehameha I and married high chiefess Elizabeth Ahia (1797–1854), a distant relation of the reigning House of Kamehameha and descendant of Līloa. Captain Beckley was subsequently made a high chief, and was the first commander of Honolulu Fort.
Beckley married part-Hawaiian Mary Camille Risley (1856–1950) on May 20, 1876. The couple were known for being gracious host and hostess during the years of the monarchy. In 1897, Mary was mentioned in an article by Janet Jennings, of the Chicago Times-Herald, about the important role and status of part-Hawaiian women in the Hawaiian nation, which described her as "one of the most graceful young matrons in Honolulu." They were the parents of Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman Beckley (1876–1955), Juanita Kamakahukilani Beckley (1885–1932) and George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley, Jr. (1887–1932). William Kauluheimalama, also named William Ahuena Beckley (1873–1947) was the son of Beckley and Mary Kameʻeleihiwa Miner Brown (who later married Menzies Dickson and Cecil Brown). Like his father, William chose a career as a steamship purser in Hawaii.
Career
The last eight years of his life, he was referred to in the news media as "Admiral Beckley", but the title was honorary, not an official career rank. Beckley had never served in any government navy, nor was he in command of any fleet. On January 18, 1902, the Masters and Pilots Association labor union of Honolulu had an "admiral's flag" designed as a gift in recognition of his lifetime working on the seas. In reality, he was a purser at that time, but the news media adopted the sobriquet, and referred to him as an admiral for the remainder of his life.