High Chiefess, Princess Bernice Pauahi was the daughter of High Chiefess Konia & Abner Paki and was a great granddaughter of King Kamehameha I.  Born on December 19, 1831, Bernice was officially eligible to the throne by order of His Majesty King Kamehameha III.  She was a favored cousin of H.M. King Kamehameha V whom he offered the throne to at his death bed, but she had declined it at the time.

 

In 1850, Bernice was married at the Royal School to Mr. Charles Reed Bishop of New York, who started the bank of what is now known as First Hawaiian Bank. A small wedding was conducted and only a few who were close to her attended, one who attended was her cousin, High Chiefess Princess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Laʻanui.

 

Princess Bernice Pauahi died childless at Keōua Hale at the age of 52 on October 16, 1884. She foresaw the need to educate her people and in her will she left her large estate of nearly a half million acres in trust to establish the Kamehameha Schools for children of Hawaiian ancestry.  Her husband, Charles Reed Bishop  established with his trust, the Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum to honor his wife.  Mauna ʻAla, the Royal Mausoleum and other charitable organizations are also beneficiaries of his trust.

 

 Princess Bernice was interred in the Kamehameha Crypt at Mauna ʻAla, the Royal Mausoleum.

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