Island History for Friday, June 18, 2010

William Edward Herbert Deverill (1848-1904) and his brother, George, were young Englishmen sent to Hawai‘i by Queen Victoria to deliver a silver urn and other christening gifts to Prince Albert (1858-1862), the son of Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.  

But when the prince, dangerously ill when they arrived in Honolulu on Aug. 22, 1862, died on the 27th, the brothers presented their gifts to Queen Emma instead and then chose to forego the arduous return voyage to England in favor of remaining in Hawai‘i.

George died of tuberculosis, but W.E.B. found employment on Kohala Ranch and as a photographer before moving to Kaua‘i in 1875 to become deputy sheriff under Sheriff Samuel Wilcox. Other jobs Deverill held on Kaua‘i included road supervisor, tax assessor, land manager, coffee planter and steamship agent.

Deverill, who possessed an excellent command of the Hawaiian language, was known to Hawaiians as “Kepolo,” and to Japanese as “Deverill Man.”

In 1880, he married part-Hawaiian Sarah Fredenberg of Hanalei and they would have six children.

Their home on Hanalei Bay once stood across from the present Hanalei Pavilion. Originally the Waioli Mission home of missionaries Edward and Lois Johnson, Deverill had it rolled on ‘ohi‘a logs from Waioli and relocated to his homesite 3/4-miles away in 1890.

With remodeling and additions completed, the Deverill’s Western-style, two-story home with verandahs also served as the Hanalei Hotel until it closed in 1920.      

Interestingly, during January 1891, Deverill met Queen Lili‘uokalani and noted in his diary that “Her Majesty arrived a little before twelve and so far all has gone nicely. The ball came off fine and lasted till 12 o’clock when the Royal Band played Hawai‘i Pono.”  

W.E.H. Deverill died in Hanalei and is buried in the graveyard by the Waioli Church.