Statewide County HI Archives Biographies.....Monsarrat, James Melville June 13, 1854 - 
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Source: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders. Published by the Honolulu Star Bulletin Ltd., Territory of Hawaii, 1925.
Author: Edited by George F. Nellist

JAMES MELVILLE MONSARRAT, Jurist and Lawyer. The son of Marcus Cumming 
Monsarrat, pioneer Honolulu resident and founder of the Monsarrat family in 
Hawaii in 1850, James Melville Monsarrat, lawyer and former magistrate, has 
been identified for more than forty-five years with the professional and 
business life of Honolulu. During the days of the Hawaiian Monarchy he was 
closely associated with the royal family socially and as one of its legal 
advisers. He is now engaged in private practice and is a recognized authority 
on Hawaiian land titles.
  Born in Honolulu, June 13, 1854, descended from a French noble family, Judge 
Monsarrat was the son of the late Marcus C. and Elizabeth Jane (Dowsett) 
Monsarrat. He is a descendant on his father’s side of Nicholas Monsarrat of 
Dublin, Ireland, who went to Ireland from France in 1755. Judge Monsarrat’s 
father made his home in Canada before coming to Hawaii and was admitted as a 
member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, June 18, 1844, at Osgoode Hall, 
Toronto.
  The elder Mr. Monsarrat was a figure in the public life of Hawaii in the 
50’s, being at one time deputy collector of customs and later entering the 
lumber firm of Dowsett & Co., which was eventually absorbed by S. G. Wilder & 
Co. He died on October 18, 1871.
  On his mother’s side Judge Monsarrat is descended from Capt. Samuel James 
Dowsett, born at Rochester, Kent, England, and a commander in H. M. Colonial 
Service. After resigning from the service he sailed from Sydney, N.S.W., as 
master and owner of the brig “Wellington,” coming to Honolulu and settling 
here in 1828, one of the first non-missionary residents of the city.
  Judge Monsarrat received his education at the Episcopal Grammar School in 
Honolulu and Oahu College. Returning to his father’s native land in 1871, he 
studied at Kilkenny College, Ireland, for two years, and, traveling 
extensively, was privately tutored in the French language at Brussels, 
Belgium, in 1873. He later attended Harvard University Law School, receiving 
his LL.B. degree, class of 1878.
  Before returning to Hawaii, he was with the law firm of Ely & Smith, New 
York City, for a short time.
  He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the Hawaiian Islands, 
Aug. 22, 1879, and at once became active in public life, holding the office of 
deputy attorney general for a time and was secretary of the legislative 
assembly in 1880.
  During his practice Judge Monsarrat drew the will of Queen Dowager Emma 
Kaleleonalani and of Princess Likelike. The will of Queen Emma was later 
contested without success by Prince Albert Kunuiakea. In 1887 when Master of 
Hawaiian Lodge No. 21, F. & A. M., he assisted in conferring the Mark Master’s 
degree on King Kalakaua at Iolani Palace. On Aug. 13, 1900, he was admitted to 
the bar of District Court, United States.
  He served as district magistrate in Honolulu from May 8, 1911, to May 31, 
1917. At the present time he is an examiner of titles for the Land Court. He 
is the author of the Autoists’ Blue Book, published in 1916.
  Judge Monsarrat is a Mason and a member of the Outrigger Canoe, Harvard and 
British Clubs, and the Harvard Law School Association.



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