Unpaid merchant consuls and missionary influence in Hawaii

Richard Charlton's consular appointment combined diplomatic duties with private commercial interests. After the Hawaiian royal visitors died in London in 1824, Britain sought more formal relations with the islands and followed the American practice of appointing an unpaid merchant representative. Charlton reached Hawaii in 1825 after earlier experience in the Pacific. Hiram Bingham's conservative Congregationalist outlook brought religious influence into disputes over commerce and social conduct. A Hawaiian minister interested in developing the economy also clashed with missionaries over behaviour they opposed. Combining mercantile business, consular office and religious influence created repeated opportunities for a private dispute to acquire official backing.