George Tupou II
King of Tonga
George Tupou II (Tongan: Siaosi Tupou II; 18 June 1874 – 5 April 1918) was the King of Tonga from 18 February 1893 until his death. He was officially crowned at Nukuʻalofa, on 17 March 1893. He was also the 20th Tuʻi Kanokupolu. Siaosi (George) Tupou II was related to his predecessor and founder of the united Tongan Kingdom, King George Tupou I, Taufaʻahau Tupou I on both sides of his family. His father was Prince Tuʻi Pelehake Fatafehi Toutaitokotaha, who was also Prime Minister of Tonga in 1905. Fatafehi's mother Sālote Pilolevu was a daughter of Taufaʻahau Tupou I. Siaosi Tupou II's mother was Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku, a daughter of Tevita ʻUnga who was a son of Taufaʻahau Tupou I. Tupou II's reign was troubled by government corruption and inefficiency. The Tongan Parliament in 1900 was suspicious of Tupou II's governing and audited his accounts several times, finding discrepancies worth thousands of pounds. The expatriate community in Tonga called for its annexation to New Zealand. Before he was married to Lavinia Veiongo, he had an intimate relationship with Margaret Cocker, which resulted in two children, Uaia and Ana Fakalelu Kihe Fana. These two children were kept a secret due to the implications of the King having relations with a commoner from England. Uaia continued to live in the palace while his sister Ana was entrusted into the care of a
chieftain of Uiha Malupo (Takapautolo). He had a close relationship with his daughter Salote. He shared his common love of writing songs and poems with his earlier Hawaiʻian colleague Kalakaua. He is also known for his support of constructing cement water tanks (vaisima) throughout Tonga to provide clean water to the people and improve public health. He ascended the throne at the age of 18, upon the death of his great-grandfather George Tupou I, at which time he was still a bachelor. In 1896, the chiefs of the country urged him to marry and produce an heir. After her death, the chiefs suggested a new wife, ʻOfa-ki-Vavaʻu, the daughter of Maʻatu from Niuatoputapu, who was related to the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua line. George, however, refused. In 1898, the King intended to marry Jane (Eugenie) von Treskow, the half-caste daughter of the German Vice-Consul Waldemar von Treskow, but Parliament registered its objection to this choice when it presented Tupou with its own nominations. Finally, on 1 June 1899, he took Lavinia Veiongo (1879–1902) as his wife. She was the daughter of Kupuavanua from Vavaʻu and Tokanga from Niuafoʻou, thus obliging these islands to the throne. Kupuavanua was also, through his mother Lavinia Veiongo (1828–1907), a grandson of the last Tuʻi Tonga Laufilitonga, thus enabling him to claim rights to that line as well. Nevertheless, the marriage nearly started a civil war. For years, relations between the king and the rest of the country remained tense. In addition to his inept governance, this ongoing strain led in 1900 to Tonga's becoming a British protectorate. Queen Lavinia died on 25 April 1902 from tuberculosis, leaving one child, Salote (born 13 March 1900). She was considered unpopular as she was perceived as being born from the 'wrong' mother; so much so that it was not safe for her to go outside the palace garden. When Siaosi married for the second time, on 11 November 1909, to the then 16-year-old ʻAnaseini Takipo Afuha'amango, a half-sister of the rejected ʻOfakivava'u, the chiefs were jubilant. It was customary in pre-modern Polynesia for a defeated chief either to be killed or to be exiled. As such, it was a fortunate excuse that Salote had to go to school in Auckland and so she could be put on the December steamer to New Zealand. Queen Anaseini Takipo was the daughter of Tae Manusa and Tevita Ula Afuha'amango. Tae Manusa was the highest ranking woman in Tonga (after the death of the last Tamaha) as she had a direct bloodline to Tu'iHa'atakalaua and Tu'iKanokupolu, which made her daughters the perfect option for Tupou II to marry. Tae Manusa was the daughter of Penisimani Latuselu Kaho and his wife (also his first cousin) Ilaisa'ane Tupou'ahau (daughter of Maealiuaki Fatukimotulalo Tu'iHa'atakalaua). Penisimani Latuselu was also the son of Nunufa'ikea Tuita and Paluleleva Mulikiha'amea (sister of Maealiuaki and the Mehekitanga of Tupou'ahau). Both Nunufa'ikea and Paluleleva were great-grandchildren of King Ma'afu'o'Tu'itonga Tu'iKanokupolu, which made both Ofakivava'u and Takipo to be the most suitable brides for George Tupou II. Salote would remain in exile for 5 years. Queen Takipo had still not brought forth a son. Her first daughter, ʻOnelua (born 20 March 1911), died of convulsions while only six months, on 19 August 1911;[citation needed] her second daughter, ʻElisiva Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku (born 26 July 1912), eventually died from tubercular peritonitis on 21 April 1933 aged 20. The hope the envying chiefs had had on an heir through Takipo was fading, and the hope for supporters of Salote's rose. The need to find a politically acceptable husband for her became imperative, and he was found in the end in Tungī Mailefihi, a cousin of ʻOfa. Siaosi had also a few children from other women. Some of these descendants became prominent politicians in Fiji, such as Edward Cakobau. Other children became high-ranking chiefs in Tonga itself (Vilai Tupou, father of Baron Vaea). His own government was ineffective with some ministers contemplated permitting British annexation of the country. The death of the king in April 1918 was soon followed by his wife Takipo (1 March 1893 – 26 November 1918) from the infamous Spanish flu epidemic raging in Tonga. Siaosi's daughter Salote succeeded him and was proclaimed Queen Salote Tupou III.
The Tonga Royal Guards are part of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Tonga (His Majesty's Armed Forces). It is Tonga's first national armed force. In 1900, the Guards consisted of only one platoon of 40 men. During the World Wars, the Guards became the basis for military units fighting on the British side. The main tasks of the Royal Guards are to protect the king and the royal family, ceremonial functions and to help maintain civil authority. The headquarters are at Vilai Barracks in Nuku'alofa. The Guard is armed with a battery of salute guns in addition to light small arms. In total, there were about 230 soldiers in a Guard company (officially called a regiment in Tonga). It is likely that this figure also takes into account the Royal Corps of Musician, which numbered 45 men. The uniforms changed several times. Initially, the King's personal guard did not have a uniform as such. From the end of the XIX century, a uniform was introduced, which was based on German traditions, but it proved to be uncomfortable in the tropical climate. Soon a new uniform was introduced, one of the elements of which was the traditional Taovalu skirt.
Tuʻi Kanokupolu (chiefs) are a junior rank of the Haʻa Tuʻi (king's lineage) in Tonga. The Haʻa Tuʻi Kanokupolu are described as Kau Halalalo. Kauhala means 'side of the road' and lalo means 'lower'. Thus, Kau Halalalo is the lower side of the road. The term Kau Halalalo differentiates the Haʻa Tuʻi Kanokupolu from the Haʻa Tuʻi Tonga who are the most senior and sacred members of the king's lineage. In contrast to Kau Halalalo, the Haʻa Tuʻi Tonga are the Kau Halaʻuta, meaning the 'higher side of the road'. In Muʻa Tongatapu, the ancient capital of Tonga and the traditional residence of the Haʻa Tuʻi Tonga, the Haʻa Tuʻi Tonga lived on the higher, inland side of the road, whereas, the Haʻa Tuʻi Kanokupolu lived on the lower, beach side of the road. In Muʻa Tongatapu, the settlement was expanded along the lower, beach side of the road. During Inasi ceremonies, when tributes were brought from the various chiefdoms (districts) of the Tonga empire to the Haʻa Tuʻi Tonga, the Haʻa Tuʻi Kanokupolu would arrive in canoes and settle along the beach. After presenting their tributes (such as fruit), the Haʻa Tuʻi Kanokupolu would return to their chiefdoms. Tupou is the title given to the
Tuʻi Kanokupolu.According to Tongan mythology, the demigod Maui drew up a group of islands from the ocean, first appearing Tongatapu, the Ha'apai Islands and Vava'u, integrating into what became modern-day Tonga. By the 12th century, Tongans and the Tongan monarch, the Tuʻi Tonga, had acquired a reputation across the central Pacific – from Niue, Samoa, Rotuma, Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia to Tikopia, leading some historians to speak of a Tuʻi Tonga Empire having existed during that period. Civil wars are known to have occurred in Tonga in the 15th and 17th centuries. The Tongan people first encountered Europeans in 1616, when the Dutch vessel Eendracht, captained by Willem Schouten, made a short visit to the islands for the purpose of engaging in trade. Later, other Dutch explorers arrived, including Jacob Le Maire (who visited the northern island of Niuatoputapu); and Abel Tasman (who visited Tongatapu and Haʻapai) in 1643. Later noteworthy European visitors included James Cook, of the British Royal Navy, in 1773, 1774, and 1777; Spanish Navy explorers Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa in 1781; Alessandro Malaspina in 1793; the first London missionaries in 1797; and a Wesleyan Methodist minister, Reverend Walter Lawry, in 1822. Whaling vessels were among the earliest regular Western visitors. The first of these on record is the Ann and Hope, which was reported to have been seen among the islands of Tonga in June 1799.[20] The last known whaling visitor was the Albatross in 1899. That ship arrived in Tonga seeking a resupply of water, food, and wood. The islands most regularly visited by Westerners were Ata, 'Eua, Ha'apai, Tongatapu and Vava'u. Sometimes, Tongan men were recruited to serve as crewmen on these vessels. The United States Exploring Expedition visited Tonga in 1840. In 1845, an ambitious young Tongan warrior, strategist, and orator named Taufaʻahau united Tonga into a kingdom. He held the chiefly title of Tuʻi Kanokupolu, but had been baptised by Methodist missionaries with the name Siaosi ("George") in 1831. In 1875, with the help of missionary Shirley Waldemar Baker, he declared Tonga a constitutional monarchy, formally adopted the Western royal style, emancipated the "serfs", enshrined a code of law, land tenure, and freedom of the press, and limited the power of the chiefs. Tonga became a protected state under a Treaty of Friendship with Britain on 18 May 1900, when European settlers and rival Tongan chiefs unsuccessfully tried to oust the man who had succeeded Taufaʻahau as king. The treaty posted no higher permanent representative on Tonga than a British consul (1901–1970). Under the protection of Britain, Tonga maintained its sovereignty and remained the only Pacific nation to retain its monarchical government. The Tongan monarchy follows an uninterrupted succession of hereditary rulers from one family.
Awards: Sash, collar and star of the Royal Order of Pouono (Ko e Fakalangilangi ‘o Pouono), star and insignia of the Royal Order of King George Tupou I (Ko e Fakalangilangi ‘o Kingi Sia’osi Topou I), star of the Royal Order of the Crown of Hawaii (Hawaii Ke Kalaunu e Hookanaka).
