{{Short description|American lawyer and politician (1849–1935)}} {{Infobox person |name = William Richards Castle |image = William Richards Castle (vol. 2, 1921).jpg |image_size = 160px |caption = |spouse = Ida Beatrice Lowrey |children = William Richards Castle, Jr. <br> + 2 others |parents = Samuel Northrup Castle <br> Mary C. Tenney |birth_date = {{birth date|1849|3|19}} |birth_place = Honolulu, Hawaii |death_date = {{death date and age|1935|6|5|1849|3|19}} |death_place = |occupation = Lawyer, Diplomat }} {{Big Five Hawaii}} '''William Richards Castle''' (March 19, 1849 &ndash; June 5, 1935) was a lawyer and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii.

==Family== William Richards Castle was born in Honolulu on March 19, 1849. His father was Samuel Northrup Castle (1808–1894), and mother was Mary Tenney Castle (1819–1907). He was a namesake of William Richards (1793–1847) who drafted the first constitution of the kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders |year=1925 |publisher= Honolulu Star Bulletin |editor= George F. Nellist |url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/castle15bs.txt |chapter= Samuel Northrop Castle }}</ref> On October 12, 1875, he married Ida Beatrice Lowrey (1854–1926) on October 12, 1875, and had three children.<ref name="men">{{cite book |title= Men of Hawaii: being a biographical reference library, complete and authentic, of the men of note and substantial achievement in the Hawaiian Islands |publisher= Honolulu Star-Bulletin |year=1921 |editor=John William Siddall |page= [https://archive.org/details/menhawaiibeinga01siddgoog/page/n98 85] |url= https://archive.org/details/menhawaiibeinga01siddgoog }}</ref>

His brothers George Parmele Castle (1851–1932) and James Bicknell Castle (1855–1918) became executives in the firm Castle & Cooke which was co-founded by his father and Amos Starr Cooke, and developed it into one of the "Big Five" corporations that dominated the Territory of Hawaii economy.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders |year=1925 |publisher= Honolulu Star Bulletin |editor= George F. Nellist |url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/castle14bs.txt |chapter= James Bicknell Castle }}</ref>

==Career== He attended Oahu College and then Oberlin College in Ohio and Harvard Law School, earning an LL.B. degree in 1873. He practised law for two years in New York City before returning to Hawaii in 1876. He was officer and director of several corporations.<ref name="men"/> After Richard H. Stanley died in office in 1875,<ref>{{cite book |author1=Wade Warren Thayer |author2=Robert Colfax Lydecker |title=A digest of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Hawaii: volumes 1 to 22 inclusive, January 6, 1847, to October 7, 1915 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuoDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR15 |year=1916 |publisher=Paradise of the Pacific Press |page=xv }}</ref> he was appointed to be Attorney General for King David Kalākaua from February to December 1876, when he was replaced by Alfred S. Hartwell.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH477b.dir/doc.pdf |title= Attorney General office record |work= state archives digital collections |publisher= state of Hawaii |access-date= July 10, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100730153134/http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH477b.dir/doc.pdf |archive-date= 2010-07-30 |url-status= dead }}</ref> He was elected to the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the House of Representatives from 1878 to 1886, and House of Nobles from 1887 to 1888.<ref name="office">{{cite web |url= http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH01c2/8c3f1eb3.dir/Castle,%20William%20R.jpg |title= Castle, William R. office record |work=state archives digital collections |publisher=state of Hawaii |access-date= 2010-02-17 }}</ref> Oberlin awarded him an honorary degree in 1887.<ref name="men"/>

He later became a member of Committee of Safety, and member of Sons of the American Revolution.<ref>{{cite book |title= A national register of the society, Sons of the American Revolution |publisher= Press of A. H. Kellogg |year= 1902 |page= [https://archive.org/details/anationalregist00revogoog/page/n369 295] |url= https://archive.org/details/anationalregist00revogoog |quote= william richards castle. }}</ref> After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, he served on commissions to lobby for annexation by the United States, was president of the Board of Education, and commissioner of public lands.<ref name="office"/>

==Death and legacy== thumb|upright|right|alt=castles with Harvard and Hawaii crests|Bookplate for Harvard collection He bequeathed a book fund at Harvard College Library in his name, focusing specifically on South Seas literature. His ''Ex libris'' bookplate contains personal coat of arms, arms of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and the Harvard College Shield.<ref>Ex libris from {{cite book |author= William Ellis |title= Vindication of the South Sea Missions |publisher= London Missionary Society |year= 1831 |url= https://archive.org/details/avindicationsou00elligoog |author-link= William Ellis (British missionary) }}</ref> He died June 5, 1935, and was buried at the mission houses cemetery at Kawaiaha{{okina}}o Church.<ref name="cem">{{cite web |title= Mission Houses Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii |work= US GenWeb Archives |author= William Disbro |date= November 6, 2001 |url= http://files.usgwarchives.org/hi/honolulu/cemeteries/mission.txt |access-date= May 4, 2010}}</ref>

===Children=== His son Alfred Lowrey Castle (1884–1972) also graduated from Harvard in 1906 and Harvard Law School, and joined the family firm of Castle & Withington in 1908. He then started his own law firm of Robertson, Castle and Olsen. Alfred was director of Alexander & Baldwin and elected to the Territorial legislature in 1911 and 1915-1918.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH01d7/fd9bf859.dir/Castle,%20Alfred%20L.jpg |title= Castle, Alfred L. office record |work=state archives digital collections |publisher=state of Hawaii |access-date= 2010-02-17 }}</ref> He was a pitcher on the Harvard baseball team, and won 11 championships of the Hawaii Tennis Association. Alfred married Ethelinda Schaefer in 1908 and had a son Alfred Lowrey Castle Jr. and two other children. He was an active member of the American Alpine Club since 1930.<ref>{{cite news |title= Alfred Lowrey Castle 1884–1972 |author= J. Monroe Thorington |work= American Alpine Journal |year= 1973 |number= 70 |volume= 38 |publisher= American Alpine Club |page= 545 |isbn= 9780930410704 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ct2Sj3HzSWgC&pg=PA545 }}</ref>

Castle's oldest son, William Richards Castle, Jr. was born June 19, 1878, became an educator, author and diplomat, and died October 14, 1963. His book ''Hawaii Past and Present,'' on the history and people of Hawaii, is dedicated to "My Father: Lifelong friend of the Hawaiian People; foremost among those who have laboured for the upbringing of the Islands—his unselfish devotion is the inspiration of his children."<ref>{{cite book |title= Hawaii Past and Present |author= William Richards Castle, Jr. |author-link= William Richards Castle, Jr. |page= v |url= https://archive.org/details/hawaiipastandpr00castgoog |publisher= Dodd, Mead and Company |orig-year= 1915 |year= 1917 }}</ref>

He also had a daughter Beatrice who was born July 30, 1888, married Burton Edgar Newcomb, and died June 8, 1931.<ref name="cem"/><ref>{{cite news |title= Obituary 4 |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10917F93C54157A93C2A8178DD85F458385F9 |newspaper= New York Times |date= June 10, 1931 |access-date= May 4, 2010}} (Obituary)</ref>

A descendant directs a foundation in honor of the Castle family,<ref>{{cite web |author= Alfred L. Castle |title= Philanthropy in Paradise: Hawaii has a centuries-old track record of identifying problems and crafting solutions through family philanthropy |date= September 2005 |work= Foundation News & Commentary |url= http://www.foundationnews.org/CME/article.cfm?ID=3409 |access-date= 2010-02-17 }}</ref> and William Richards Castle was a founding trustee.<ref>{{cite web |title= History of the Foundation |work= Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation web site |url= http://foundationcenter.org/grantmaker/castle/history.html |access-date= May 4, 2010 }}</ref>

===Family tree=== {{Castle Hawaii family tree}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite news |title= Wm. R. Castle, 86, Dies in Honolulu; Father of Ex-Under-Secretary of State — Attorney General in Hawaiian Kingdom |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40D12F73C5B177A93C5A9178DD85F418385F9 |newspaper= New York Times |date= June 7, 1935 }} (Obituary)

==External links== *{{cite book |title=All about Hawaii. The recognized book of authentic information on Hawaii, combined with Thrum's Hawaiian annual and standard guide |date=1891 |publisher=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |pages=92–97 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000598560 |format=(original from University of Michigan)|via=HathiTrust}} :"A List of All the Cabinet Ministers Who Have Held Office in the Hawaiian Kingdom"

*{{cite web |last1=Woods |first1=Roberta |title=LibGuides: Hawai'i Legal Research: Attorney General Opinions |url=https://law-hawaii.libguides.com/hawaii/attorneygeneral |website=law-hawaii.libguides.com}} :Includes a list of Attorneys General for the Kingdom of Hawaii, their salaries and budgets

{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box |title= Kingdom of Hawaii Attorney General |before= John S. Walker |after=Alfred S. Hartwell |years= February 1876 – December 1876 }} {{s-end}}

{{Attorneys General of Hawaii}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, William Richards}} Category:1849 births Category:1935 deaths Category:Republic of Hawaii politicians Category:Hawaiian Kingdom attorneys general Category:Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Representatives Category:Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles Category:Punahou School alumni Category:Oberlin College alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Members of the Sons of the American Revolution Category:Independent (Kuokoa) Party politicians Category:Lawyers from Honolulu Category:Politicians from Honolulu Category:People associated with the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom