JAMES ROBINSON ESTATE - REBECCA PREVER

KAIKILANI REBECCA "LUKA" PREVER

Kaikilani Rebecca "Luka" Prever, also known as Rebecca Kaikilani Robinson, was the second wife of James Robinson, a descendant of Hawaiian chiefess Kamakana. She was born in 1817 and passed away around 1883. Rebecca and James Robinson married in 1843, and they had eight children: Mary, Victoria, Bathsheba, Matilda, Mark, Annie, Lucy, and John. Rebecca Kaikilani Prever was the mother of Mark Prever Robinson and Victoria Ward. She was part of the English-Hawaiian family of John James Robinson, and her story is linked to the founding of the first shipyard in Hawaii and the management of the same.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31513151/john-james-robinson

JOHN "JAMES" ROBINSON

John James Robinson was born in London about 1798. He arrived in the Hawaiian islands in 1820 as a carpenter on the whale ship Hermes which passed the Thadeus (carrying the first protestant missionaries from New England) while rounding Cape Horn. In 1843 he married Rebecca Kaikilani Prever, a descendant of Hawaiian chiefess Kamakana.

On April 8, 1822 the Hermes sailed from Honolulu with the Pearl for the newly discovered Japanese whaling grounds. At night in a storm both ships wrecked on an unknown atoll, since then known as the Pearl and Hermes Reef. (The wrecks were located and explored in 2004.) The men got to shore on a tiny island in the lagoon and were able to rescue enough timber and supplies to build (under Robinson's direction) a 30-ton schooner which they named Deliverance. Before they had launched this vessel a British ship was sighted and most of the 57 men boarded her, but 12 including Robinson chose to purchase the Deliverance and sail for Honolulu. The 1050 mile journey took ten weeks and they arrived with only two gallons of fresh water left.

Robinson and Robert Lawrence sold the ship for $2000 and used the money to set up a ship repair business in 1827 on Pakaka Point with the assistance of King Kamehameha II. The business thrived, first called James Robinson & Co. then Allen & Robinson with Samuel C. Allen in 1875 and finally McWayne Marine Supply until 1994

Robinson became wealthy and philanthropic. He was a good friend to King Kamehameha V. In 1869 at the King's request he put on a ball for the Duke of Edinburgh in the large space above the shipyard, since no other room in Hinolulu was big enough.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Robinson-20872