page_title: Richard Charlton
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Charlton / Life
caption_attribution_description: English: Residence of General Miller, H. B. M. Consul, Beretania street, adjoining Washington Place. By the testimony of old residents this building was standing as early as 1833. The earlier occupancy of these premises by Charlton, also the representative of Great Britain, obtained for it among Hawaiians the name "Pelekane," which was eventually applied to the street on which it fronted. The side street, named after General Miller, was so named much later as he did not arrive here till 1844. The low cottage, standing far back from the street, with its extensive lawn and branching trees give it, more than any other place here, the appearance of an English home, as in fact it was, continuously, up to 1894, when its lease was transferred by the McKibbins to Liliuokalani. Warren Goodale&#32;(1897).&#32;"Honolulu in 1853". Papers of the Hawaiian Historical Society.&#32;Hawaiian Historical Society. derivative work: Begoon
context_page_description: Richard Charlton was the first diplomatic Consul from Great Britain to the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was surrounded by controversies that caused a military occupation known as the Paulet Affair, and real estate claims that motivated the formalization of Hawaiian land titles.
context_section_description: Richard Charlton was born in St Anthony in Roseland, Cornwall in December 1791. His father was Robert Charlton and mother Christian Charlton. He married Betsy Bastram of Bristol in 1818.
  He worked for the East India Company in the Pacific as early as 1821, starting as cabin boy to command his own vessel.
  Charlton knew King Kamehameha II during his early trading visits to the Hawaiian Islands. For example, Charlton commanded the schooner Active which arrived on 4 February 1823 from Tahiti with English missionary Rev. William Ellis, and was generally well-received.
  Kamehameha II and his Queen Kamāmalu died in 1824 while in London trying to see the King of Great Britain. George Canning who was British Foreign Secretary was deeply embarrassed by the deaths, and wanted to formalize relations.
  The United States had appointed John Coffin Jones as an unpaid Consular Agent in 1820.
  In July 1824 Charlton had just returned from the Pacific, and was recommended to become the first British representative in residence there. While en route, he was officially appointed British Consul (trade representative) for the Hawaiian, Friendly (now Tonga) and Society Islands on 23 September 1824.
  He took his wife Betsy, her sister, and a daughter Elizabeth on his ship Active which reached the Hawaiian Islands on 25 April 1825, from Valparaíso. HMS Blonde, a specially fitted warship with hand-picked crew was sent bearing the royal bodies. After Blonde arrived two weeks later, Charlton took part in the elaborate state funeral put on by the military crew. The Anglican ship chaplain led the funeral service, which started a lingering conflict with Hiram Bingham I, the conservative American missionary leader from the Congregational church.
caption: Residence of the British Consul in Honolulu. This would later become the home of his successor William Miller.
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