Mary Dominis

Mary Lambert Jones Dominis (August 3, 1803 – April 25, 1889) was an American settler of Hawaii and the first mistress of Washington Place in Honolulu.

Born into a large New England family, she married merchant sea Captain John Dominis, for whom Honolulu was a frequent port of trade.

Her son John Owen Dominis married Hawaiian high chiefess Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, the future Queen Liliʻuokalani.

She also began Hawaii's annual Christmas festivities by inviting the children of Honolulu and their parents to Washington Place to celebrate the holiday.

[1][2] One of eight children, her extended family remained mainly in New England except for her brother-in-law Robert William Holt (1792–1862) who settled in Hawaii around 1833 after her sister Anne Marie's death in 1832.

[4][8] In Honolulu, the Dominises started building a mansion, on lands near the residence of the British consul to Hawaii Richard Charlton.

Between 1841 and 1847, the construction details of the mansion were largely attended to by Mary since Captain Dominis was mostly away on voyages raising money for the building cost.

[11] In 1846 Captain Dominis sailed for China on the brig William Neilson,[12] intending to purchase Chinese-made furniture for the house which was nearing completion.

[16][17][18] Other tenants and guests included American diplomats Luther Severance, David L. Gregg and Elisha Hunt Allen and politicians William Little Lee and Robert Crichton Wyllie.

[20] On September 16, 1862, Dominis' son married the Hawaiian high chiefess Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, the future Queen Liliʻuokalani.

[31][32] On Christmas Eve of 1858, Mary Dominis invited the children of Honolulu and their parents to Washington Place to celebrate the holiday.

The party, featuring the first appearance of a Christmas tree and Santa Claus in Hawaii, received significant coverage in local Hawaiian newspapers: The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, The Polynesian and The Friend.

The eve was ushered in by the assemblage of a large number of children and their parents at Washington Place, the mansion of Mrs. Dominis, where Santa Claus had given out that he would hold his court...A magnificent Christmas Tree had been provided...and the little folks as they gathered about it...found it all lighted up with candles, and the branches bending with the weight of gifts.

Prompt as old Father Time ever was, bells were heard at the windows...and in a moment old Santa Claus stood at the door before the youthful group, who greeted him with a volley of merry shouts.