THE NITRATE KING PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS a History of the British Presence in Chile: from Bloody Mary to Charles Darwin and the Decline of British Influence

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THE NITRATE KING PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS A History of the British Presence in Chile: From Bloody Mary to Charles Darwin and the Decline of British Influence. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. STUDIES OF THE AMERICAS edited by Maxine Molyneux Institute for the Study of the Americas University of London School of Advanced Study Titles in this series are multidisciplinary studies of aspects of the societies of the hemisphere, particularly in the areas of politics, economics, history, anthropology, sociology, and the environment. The series covers a comparative perspective across the Americas, including Canada and the Caribbean as well as the United States and Latin America. Titles in this series published by Palgrave Macmillan: Cuba’s Military 1990–2005: Revolutionary Soldiers during Counter-Revolutionary Times By Hal Klepak The Judicialization of Politics in Latin America Edited by Rachel Sieder, Line Schjolden, and Alan Angell Latin America: A New Interpretation By Laurence Whitehead Appropriation as Practice: Art and Identity in Argentina By Arnd Schneider America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism Edited by Gary L. McDowell and Johnathan O’Neill Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives Edited by Jens R. Hentschke When Was Latin America Modern? Edited by Nicola Miller and Stephen Hart Debating Cuban Exceptionalism Edited by Bert Hoffman and Laurence Whitehead Caribbean Land and Development Revisited Edited by Jean Besson and Janet Momsen Cultures of the Lusophone Black Atlantic Edited by Nancy Priscilla Naro, Roger Sansi-Roca, and David H. Treece Democratization, Development, and Legality: Chile, 1831–1973 By Julio Faundez The Hispanic World and American Intellectual Life, 1820–1880 By Iván Jaksic´ The Role of Mexico’s Plural in Latin American Literary and Political Culture: From Tlatelolco to the “Philanthropic Ogre” By John King Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico Edited by Matthew Butler Reinventing Modernity in Latin America: Intellectuals Imagine the Future, 1900–1930 By Nicola Miller The Republican Party and Immigration Politics: From Proposition 187 to George W. Bush By Andrew Wroe The Political Economy of Hemispheric Integration: Responding to Globalization in the Americas Edited by Diego Sánchez-Ancochea and Kenneth C. Shadlen Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: Perceptions, Policies, Legacies Edited by Cheryl Hudson and Gareth Davies Wellbeing and Development in Peru: Local and Universal Views Confronted Edited by James Copestake The Federal Nation: Perspectives on American Federalism Edited by Iwan W. Morgan and Philip J. Davies Base Colonies in the Western Hemisphere, 1940–1967 By Steven High Beyond Neoliberalism in Latin America? Societies and Politics at the Crossroads Edited by John Burdick, Philip Oxhorn, and Kenneth M. Roberts Visual Synergies in Fiction and Documentary Film from Latin America Edited by Miriam Haddu and Joanna Page Cuban Medical Internationalism: Origins, Evolution, and Goals By John M. Kirk and H. Michael Erisman Governance after Neoliberalism in Latin America Edited by Jean Grugel and Pía Riggirozzi Modern Poetics and Hemispheric American Cultural Studies By Justin Read Youth Violence in Latin America: Gangs and Juvenile Justice in Perspective Edited by Gareth A. Jones and Dennis Rodgers The Origins of Mercosur By Gian Luca Gardini Belize’s Independence & Decolonization in Latin America: Guatemala, Britain, and the UN By Assad Shoman Post-Colonial Trinidad: An Ethnographic Journal By Colin Clarke and Gillian Clarke The Nitrate King: A Biography of “Colonel” John Thomas North By William Edmundson The Nitrate King A Biography of “Colonel” John Thomas North

William Edmundson THE NITRATE KING Copyright © William Edmundson, 2011. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-11280-3 All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29475-6 ISBN 978-0-230-11879-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230118799 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Edmundson, William (Eddie) The nitrate king : a biography of “Colonel” John Thomas North / by William Edmundson. p. cm.— (Studies of the Americas) 1. North, John Thomas, 1842–1896. 2. Businessmen—Great Britain— Biography. 3. Businessmen—Chile—Biography. 4. Businessmen—Peru— Biography. 5. Chile saltpeter industry—Chile—History—19th century. 6. Chile saltpeter industry—Peru—History—19th century. 7. Chile— Economic conditions—19th century. 8. Peru—Economic conditions— 19th century. 9. War of the Pacific, 1879–1884. 10. Chile— History—Revolution, 1891. I. Title. HD9585.S142N674 2010 338.7Ј6155364—dc22 2010037864 [B] A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2011 To my late father, Tom Edmundson, who was the first to show me by example the importance of carrying out historical research, and to Jim Grindle, my secondary school teacher of English who influ- enced my life in so many ways, and encouraged me in my writing. Cover art and Image 0.1 “The Nitrate King.” Cromolithograph from Vanity Fair, by “Spy” (Lesley Ward), November 2, 1889. Contents

List of Illustrations xi Preface: John Thomas North, a reappraisal xiii Juan Ricardo Couyoumdjian Acknowledgments xix Timeline xxi Map of Northern and Central Chile xxix Prologue: He Would Be Called Quiet xxxi

Introduction 1 The Crafty Colonel (Anecdote) 6 Chapter 1 We Had Adventures of All Sorts 7 I Want To Hear the Man Swear (Anecdote) 13 Chapter 2 I Was Better Acquainted Than Any Other Foreigner 15 Free-Handed Hospitality (Anecdote) 22 Chapter 3 Don Juan Tomás North 25 Who’s Chairman of This Meeting? (Anecdote) 35 Chapter 4 The Nitrate King 37 Music Hall Song (Anecdote) 55 Chapter 5 The Grand Promotion Army 59 Wild Rumours (Anecdote) 73 x CONTENTS

Chapter 6 Colonel North 75 Myth Making (Anecdote) 95 Chapter 7 The Sensation of the Hour 97 A Little Nonsense (Anecdote) 104 Chapter 8 A Visit to the Nitrate Kingdom 107 Millionaires at Play (Anecdote) 127 Chapter 9 A Millionaire Stripped Bare 129

Epilogue: I Have Enjoyed Myself Thoroughly 141 Appendix: Family tree of John Thomas North 143 Notes 149 Selected Bibliography 175 Index 183 Illustrations

Map 0.1 Map of Northern and Central Chile xxix

Images 0.1 “The Nitrate King.” Cromolithograph from Vanity Fair, by “Spy” (Lesley Ward), November 2, 1889. viii I.1 “Colonel John T. North, The Nitrate King.” Lithograph from Harper’s Weekly, February 6, 1892. Author not given 2 3.1 Page from atlas: “Provincia de Tarapacá,” from Atlas de Chile, by Juan Türke. Ediciones Eduardo Cadot, Santiago, 1895 26 4.1 “Nitrate Works in Chile,” Melton Prior. The Illustrated London News, November 16, 1889, p. 623 38 4.2 “Fichas” (tokens) used in mining settlements in Chile (author’s collection) 39 6.1 “Avery Hill, Eltham,” early twentieth-century postcard 76 6.2 “Reopening of Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds: The Bishop of Ripon delivering the Address.” Holland Tringham, The Illustrated London News, September 21, 1895, p. 1 90 8.1 “Shipping nitrate at Pisagua, Chile,” Melton Prior. The Illustrated London News, January 24, 1891, p. 1 108 8.2 Hotel Métropole, London. Vintage Victorian print 109

All illustrations are from the author’s personal collection. The map of northern and central Chile was prepared by the author and designed digitally by Daniel Edmundson. Preface John Thomas North, a reappraisal

In 1973, British prime minister Edward Heath denounced the activities of Roland “Tiny” Rowland, a mining entrepreneur, as the “unacceptable face of capitalism.” In not quite the same words, this rebuke has long been levied at John Thomas North, another mining entrepreneur, nitrate in his case, both by his contemporaries and by later- day historians. At the same time as Rowland was gathering public opprobrium in the United Kingdom, Dr. Harold Blakemore, whose classic work on President José Manuel Balmaceda of Chile and John Thomas North was published the following year,1 shed light on the career of the latter, and his involvement, or rather noninvolvement, in the Chilean Revolution of 1891, which led to the downfall and suicide of the former. Given the central thesis of his monograph, Dr. Blakemore was mainly interested in the Chilean dimension of North’s activities rather than in the man himself and his entrepreneurial endeavors elsewhere. It is here that William Edmundson makes his most significant contri- butions. There is new information on his early life and his activities on the West Coast prior to becoming “the nitrate king.” He reex- amines the rationale behind the decision of the Chilean authorities to return the nitrate properties to the owners of the corresponding deeds issued by the Peruvian government, in lieu of payment for their expropriation, and to instead impose a heavy tax on exports. More importantly, he provides some insights into his relations with the firm of the brothers William and John Lockett, who were instrumental in launching the Liverpool Nitrate Company, the first of a series of similar enterprises. Edmundson also goes into some detail on North’s later ventures, including coal mines in Wales, rubber in Africa, gold mining in Australia, and others. Although the available data on these is in many cases sketchy, the penchant of North to get involved in litigation sug- gests that his business methods continued to generate controversy. xiv PREFACE

As for the man himself, we get a fuller picture of his outgoing per- sonality, and his outbursts of generosity that were probably genuine, but were consciously put to good use in self-promotion. There is also more than something of the Victorian nouveau riche in him, which grated with some of his contemporaries, while he cultivated the image of a “country boy made good” and was personally generous. Little wonder, then, that during his visit to Chile in 1889, he was beset by numerous petitions from the locals wherever he stayed. The author provides a good assessment of the way North made his fortune. His partnership with Robert Harvey, who was Inspector General of Nitrates first under the Peruvian and then the Chilean government, provided him with inside information on the merits and estimated worth of the different nitrate oficinas, the deeds of which were being sold at a heavy discount on the market at that time. It is also likely that Harvey was privy to information regarding the future policy of the Chilean government regarding the nitrate industry, although the partners would still have made a very good profit if the plans for expropriation had been carried through and the certificates repaid at face value. Not paying them when the government had the means to do so was not an option in those times. The purchases of the certificates were financed with loans provided by John Dawson, the Iquique manager of the Banco de Valparaíso, a Chilean concern with important local British shareholders. Many have felt that these funds could have been better employed making loans to Chilean entrepreneurs instead of being lent to foreign speculators, which added insult to injury, but banks, even today, are not moved by such sentimental considerations. Edmundson does not hint at any impropriety in these operations, but the reader wonders whether any collateral was given against these loans and what was the reaction of the Valparaíso board to these operations. In any case, it is worthwhile noting that Dawson ended up by working in North’s bank. In truth, this is only half, and the lesser half, of the story. North was not the only one who bought nitrate certificates as speculation. His real contribution to the growth and modernization of the Chilean nitrate industry was organizing nitrate companies in England, that bought the certificates from North and Harvey at inflated prices and then raised money to buy and install new machinery, and to obtain working capital by issuing bonds. These bonds and shares were sold to the public, providing the promoters with a very handsome profit. There were additional benefits for the promoters: seats on the board of directors, as well as commissions to be made by becoming local agents, (collecting fees for local purchases, from shipping, PREFACE xv and insurance), which were given to the firm of North & Jewell of Iquique. The need for new machinery is a key issue, because of the trans- formations in the technology for processing caliche or nitrate ore, brought about by the adaptation of the Shanks soda-making process to the nitrate industry introduced by James Humberstone shortly before the War of the Pacific. The use of modern machinery meant lower production costs and greater profit, which, in turn, made it possible for the new companies to pay good dividends. The prom- ise of high yields was essential to attract prospective buyers for the shares, and the first of North’s nitrate companies—the Liverpool Nitrate Company—paid handsome dividends indeed, throughout its existence. Most other companies organized by North also provided a reasonable income to the shareholders, although the capital gains benefited mainly the original promoters. In the text accompanying the print of North published in Vanity Fair, “Jehu Junior” writes a brief biographical sketch of North, whose merit was having “invented nitrates.”2 The phrase could not be more apt. His real contribution to the development of the nitrate industry was financing its expansion with money collected from the British public. The path that he opened was followed by British merchant houses operating in nitrates, such as Antony Gibbs & Sons, which organized at least three companies, and by two German concerns, Gildemeister & Co and Weber & Co., who controlled the Rosario and Amelia Nitrate Companies, respectively. “Nitrates” became a cat- egory of Latin American shares on the London Stock Exchange, in the same vein as railways, banking, and shipping. However, by the second decade of the twentieth century, the incorporation of nitrate companies in the United Kingdom had ceased to be convenient for tax reasons. New concerns from then on were organized under Chilean law, even if local British capital was involved, while other companies originally based in London or Liverpool were taken over by Chileans, or foreigners residing in Chile, and their tax domicile transferred to Chile, where income tax was not levied until 1924. The dubious reputation of John Thomas North with the West Coast business community in his time, and among later-day historians, owes something to the fact that most of his Chilean companies seem to have required monopoly conditions to prosper. This may sound hard, but it should be borne in mind that the nitrate industry as a whole constituted a natural monopoly for Chile, which was later undermined by the competition from other nitrogen products. In Britain, North was accused of “talking up,” if not manipulating, the price of the shares xvi PREFACE of those companies which he had organized and in which he still had an interest, in order to sell his stock to the public at a good price—not easy in the case of companies with inflated capital. To maintain their profitability he organized the first ‘nitrate combination’ or cartel to restrict production and raise prices. Restricting production ran counter to the interests of the Chilean government, whose chief source of revenue was the tax on nitrate exports. Not surprisingly, Balmaceda blamed the British for this state of affairs and expressed his desire for greater Chilean participation in this sector of the economy. Marxist historians have argued that Balmaceda had wanted to nationalize the nitrate industry and was hindered from doing so by British capitalism, and by North in particular, who contributed to his defeat—an accusa- tion that William Edmundson declares not proven. While the succeeding “nitrate combinations” organized to restrict production benefited all nitrate companies, they were usually short- lived, both because a new or existing low-cost producer would break ranks to gain market share, and because the government was in a position to sell unworked nitrate fields to newcomers attracted by the good market prices. The case was very different with two of the other companies held by North; the Nitrate Railways Company, which owned the line joining the nitrate oficinas of Tarapacá to the ports of Iquique and Pisagua, and the Tarapacá Waterworks Company, which supplied drinking water to the former town. The high and discriminatory tariffs charged by the railway created much hostility, both among the owners of the oficinas affected by the higher expense, and with the government. Although two producers, the Agua Santa and Junin companies, managed to obtain authorization to build their own line to the coast, and a couple of others made different transport arrangements to avoid using the Nitrate Railways, its monopoly—granted originally by the Peruvian government—was initially upheld in Chilean courts until the decision by the Council of State in September 1889 that the courts had no jurisdiction over the issue. However, the position of the railway company was not invulnerable because the new nitrate fields developed in the province of Antofagasta were outside its catchment area, and also because its rates had to allow its captive producers to make a profit, else they would close down and stop using the railway. The Waterworks Company, which had arranged to become the sole supplier to the town of Iquique, soon had a running feud with the municipality and the residents on account of its high rates and poor service. The result was that the company was reluctant to finance the expansion of its network, due to the uncertainty of its position, while the local authorities tried to PREFACE xvii establish a parallel service, but for many years did not have the money to do so until the central government stepped in. The company was actually bought out in 1954, although by that time it had ceased to have much relevance, in the face of a competing service. It is clear from this book that North had already lost interest in the nitrate industry before his early death. It is also evident that North’s ability lay in discovering opportunities to make money. At heart, he was a financier, creating or buying companies, and selling them; more interested in capital gains than in the steady profit that comes from running a business from day to day. In this he was very different from the partners of the large British merchant houses established in Chile since before his time, who believed that their capital and endeavors should be employed in doing business, rather than entering in speculations, even if they were not averse to making a profit from these ventures. This also explains their criticism of the business methods of the nitrate king. Perhaps because he was a financial innovator rather than an entrepreneur, North did not leave an heir to run his companies. The nearest to one is George Alexander Lockett, who married his daughter and whose family bought out the business of North & Jewell in Tarapacá. North’s “nitrate kingdom” stagnated and eventually disappeared. By the 1920s, his nitrate companies had lost their former importance, and we have already mentioned the fate of the Nitrate Railways and the Tarapacá Waterworks. As to his bank, which later became the Anglo South American Bank, it passed to other hands after successive mergers. It collapsed in the early 1930s as a result of the nitrate crisis and was absorbed by the Bank of London and South America. The time has come to reassess North’s legacy, balancing the long- standing criticism of his methods of operation—“the unacceptable face of capitalism”—against his contribution to the development of Tarapacá. Dr. Pedro Bravo-Elizondo, who is working on a similar project on the life of John Thomas North, states that “como Iquiqueño, reconozco sus méritos por lo que significó para la provincia de Tarapacá”3 (As a citizen of Iquique, I recognize his merits for what he meant for the province of Tarapacá). This is a welcome change of attitude on the part of historians, given the role that private enterprise is expected to play in the economic growth of developing countries, and the regulations they face to ensure the free working of the markets. William Edmundson has provided a balanced view of John Thomas North and his activities so that the reader will be able to form his or her own opinion on the man and his times.

JUAN RICARDO COUYOUMDJIAN Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to several archivists in the United Kingdom who helped me greatly while carrying out my research. Gwendoline Seabrook Smith, the then Bibliographic Database librarian at the University of Greenwich, generously guided me through the many documents in the excellent Avery Hill archive. Oliver Wooller, community archivist at the Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre of the Bexley Council in London, engaged with me in valuable correspondence and kindly sent me a copy of his paper The Consul and the Colonel (unpublished) and important documents from the Maurice Jewell Collection. Helen Skilbeck, information librarian at the Local and Family History Library and Information Services of Leeds City Council, made available to me key documents and newspaper clippings related to John Thomas North. Christopher Lloyd of the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives helped me understand “Colonel North” better through correspondence and by sending me relevant newspaper clippings. I am grateful too to Simon Finch and Arthur Holden of the Local Studies Library, London Borough of Bromley, for providing me with a copy of The Life and Career of Col. North: From Apprentice Boy to Millionaire. Laura Gardner, archivist at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, kindly sent me a copy of North’s membership proposal form for this institution (reference MPF 6/3/121), and the obituary printed in the Institution’s Proceedings of 1896 (Volume 50). Many others have helped me understand better key elements of John Thomas North’s life. Andrew Dix, secretary of the Tasmanian Transport Museum Society, and Barry S. Blumstein of Tasmania, gave me important information on the Colonel North Mining & Railway Company and the Colonel North tram. Dr. Philip W. Errington, dep- uty director of the Department of Printed Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby’s helped me locate the reference to the ship J. T. North in the poetry of John Masefield. Laurie Baker, secretary of The Eltham xx ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Society, provided me with the text of the inscriptions on the North tomb in Eltham, as well as photos that included the two busts of John Thomas North and Jane North at Avery Hill. Richard Williams of the Royal Blackheath Golf Club sent me information on the North Scratch Medal. Michael and Eveleigh Bradford very generously shared with me their research into the history of Kirkstall Abbey, especially John Thomas North’s involvement in the purchase and his gift of the abbey to the borough of Leeds. Karen Lawrence was very helpful in providing valuable insider information on the North family tree. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity. My son Daniel of the design firm www.mooz.com.br/ helped me with the map of northern and central Chile, and by preparing the illustrations for the book. Once again, I am grateful to my wife Verônica for her encouragement, her insightful comments on an early draft of the opening chapters, and for understanding that “coffee time” is “thinking time.” I am especially grateful to historians who are acknowledged experts on key aspects of this story, and who generously read through and commented on early drafts of the manuscript: in particular, Professor Brian Loveman (San Diego State University), Professor Juan Ricardo Couyoumdjian (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago), and Professor Thomas F. O’Brien (University of Houston). Any errors in this biography are of course my entire responsibility. Timeline

1842 January 30: John Thomas North was born in Holbeck, near Leeds. 1847 October: Robert Harvey was born in Truro, Cornwall. Maurice Jewell was born in Jersey (around 1847). 1857 North was apprenticed to the firm of Shaw, North, and Watson of Hunslet, millwrights and shipwrights. 1865 North joined the firm of Messrs. Fowler and Company at their Steam Plough Works in Hunslet, Leeds. North married Jane Woodhead. 1866 North’s son Harry North was born. 1867 North’s father James North died. (He may have died in 1861, accord- ing to some sources.) 1868 North’s daughter Emma North was born. 1869 North went to Chile/Peru as a mechanic working for Fowler’s (Some sources give 1866 or 1867 as the year of his departure). 1871 North moved to Iquique and was employed in the Santa Rita nitrate oficina (nitrate processing plant) of Peruvian González Vélez. xxii TIMELINE

1873 The Peruvian government (on the verge of bankruptcy) raised the export duty on nitrate. 1875 The Peruvian government was authorized to raise a loan of £7,000,000, of which £4,000,000 was to be used to buy out owners of oficinas in Tarapacá. North bought the Marañon, a water-tanker at the port of Huanillos. Robert Harvey moved to Iquique in Tarapacá, and found work at an oficina owned by Peruvian León Castro. 1876 Robert Harvey was appointed as engineer-in-chief and Inspector General of Nitrates in the Peruvian province of Tarapacá, working within the Inspección de Salitreras de Tarapacá. 1878 The Compañia de Aguas de Tarapacá was founded in Iquique. North took out a lease for two years. North acquired from Guillermo Speedie the contract to exploit the Porvenir oficina. 1879 April 5: Chile declared war on Bolivia and Peru, and the War of the Pacific started. John Dawson arrived in Iquique as manager of the Banco de Valparaíso. 1880 North and Robert Harvey joined together to exploit the Peruana salitrera (nitrate field). February: Robert Harvey was appointed Inspector General of Nitrates by the Chilean government. August: North was recognized by Chile as the sole owner of the Compañia de Aguas de Tarapacá. 1881 January: Chilean soldiers entered Lima. Patricio Lynch sold 40,000 tons of guano to North and H. B. Jameson. April 6: The firm of “North & Jewell” was constituted in Iquique by a formal partnership agreement. TIMELINE xxiii

North and Robert Harvey went to Lima to purchase nitrate certificates. June 11: The Chilean government decreed it would provisionally recognize the Peruvian nitrate certificates. North and Robert Harvey acquired the title-deeds to oficinas/salitreras, including the Primitiva, Peruana, Ramírez, Buen Retiro, Jazpampa, and Virginia (actual dates of purchases are unknown). 1882 March: The Chilean government reinforced the 1881 decree and granted certificate holders definitive titles to their oficinas. North returned to England. North met with John Waite, a partner in the Liverpool merchant house of William & John Lockett. Robert Harvey returned to England, and was given responsibility for the technical operations of the Liverpool Nitrate Company. August 22: North applied to join the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. August 24: The Nitrate Railways Company Ltd. was incorporated in London by the Montero brothers. 1883 February 3: The Liverpool Nitrate Company Ltd. was registered at Somerset House, based on the Pampa Ramírez oficina, with North as chairman. May 15: Robert Harvey returned to Iquique with English work- men to begin installation of machinery for the Liverpool Nitrate Company. June: North took out a ten year lease on Avery Hill House in Eltham. September 30: North’s son Arthur Jewell North was born. October 20: the Treaty of Ancón was signed with Peru, effectively ending the War of the Pacific. 1884 April: Chile and Bolivia signed the Treaty of Valparaíso by which Bolivia ceded control of Antofagasta to Chile. June: The first “combination” was established which fixed production quotas for each oficina. This collapsed in December 1886. 1885 The Colorado Nitrate Company Ltd. was founded, to work the Buen Retiro, Nueva Carolina, Pozo Almonte, and Peruana oficinas, with North as chairman. xxiv TIMELINE

March 25: North was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 2nd. Tower Hamlets (East London) Engineer Volunteer Corps. The Arauco Company Ltd. was founded in London. Robert Harvey returned from Chile to England. 1886 The Primitiva Nitrate Company Ltd. was founded to work the Primitiva and Abra de Quiroga oficinas, with North as chairman. North and Robert Harvey acquired the Paccha oficina from the Chilean government. North acquired the concession for the Arauco Coal and Railway Company. April 21: North and Maurice Jewell renewed their partnership. July 25: Robert Cecil, 3rd. Marquess of Salisbury, formed his second ministry (to August 11, 1892). August: The 2nd Tower Hamlets Engineers were under canvas at Avery Hill for three days. September 18: José Manuel Balmaceda Fernández began his term as President of Chile. 1887 January 21: North celebrated Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee year with a ball in the Marlborough Rooms. April: North purchased 7,000 shares in the Nitrate Railways Company from the Montero brothers. September: North purchased the Lagunas salitrera. December 30: Harry North’s coming of age was celebrated at the Whitehall Rooms, the Hotel Métropole, London. 1888 North became a company director of the Nitrate Railways Company. North bought Avery Hill House from Anna-Maria Boyd. North was chairman of the Local Reception Committee for the Italian exhibition in London. North and Robert Harvey founded the San Pablo Nitrate Company. June: North acquired the Llynfi and Tondu Company (coal mines and iron works north of Bridgend) through a syndicate. September: The Tarapacá Waterworks Company Ltd. was registered in London, with Robert Harvey as chairman of the board, and North as one of the directors. December: North bought Kirkstall Abbey and adjacent grounds, and presented them to the borough of Leeds in January 1889, in a transaction formalized in December 1890. TIMELINE xxv

December: The Bank of Tarapacá and London Ltd. was founded. December: North was introduced to the Prince of Wales by Lord Randolph Churchill. 1889 January 4: North’s fancy dress ball was held at the Hotel Métropole in Whitehall Place, London. January 19: Assets in the Llynfi and Tondu Company were sold to North’s Navigation Collieries Company. January 25: The ceremony was held to confer on North the title of Honorary Freeman of the borough of Leeds. January: The Nitrate and General Investment Trust Company was registered in London. North commissioned architect T.W. Cutler to make alterations to Avery Hill House (before leaving for Chile). February 6: North left Liverpool for Chile on board S.S. Galicia. March 4: President Balmaceda left Valparaíso for Iquique on the Chilean warship Amazonas. March 16: The S.S. Galicia arrived at Coronel in Chile with North and his entourage on board. March 25: First meeting between North and President Balmaceda, in Viña del Mar. March 29: Second meeting between North and President Balmaceda, in Santiago. April 20: Third meeting between North and President Balmaceda, in Santiago. April 30: The Chilean government recognized the legal existence of the Bank of Tarapacá and London by accepting John Dawson as the bank’s agent in Chile. May 1: North departed on his visit to northern Chile, arriving in Iquique on May 7. June 1: Maurice Jewell was appointed British consul in Iquique by letters patent of Queen Victoria. June 7: North left Chile for Lima, Panama, and New York, where he arrived on July 2. June 30: The Bank of Tarapacá and London commenced business. North dismissed architect T. W. Cutler, who was replaced by his assis- tant J. O. Cooke (on North’s return from Chile). September 30: Campbell, Outram & Company applied to the Chilean government for a concession to build a railway from the oficina of Agua Santa to the port of Caleta Buena. November: The second “combination” to limit nitrate output was discussed by London nitrate companies meeting at North’s offices. (Operational from March 1891.) xxvi TIMELINE

North’s greyhounds Fullerton and Troughend tied for first place in the Waterloo Cup coursing competition. North became chairman of the Board of the Nitrate Railways Company. North floated the Nitrate Provisions Supply Company on the London Stock Exchange, with Robert Harvey as chairman. The Lagunas Syndicate Ltd. was incorporated to acquire the Lagunas oficina. The Paccha and Jazpampa Nitrate Company Ltd. was founded. The Permanent Nitrate Committee was established in London. 1890 January 18: President Balmaceda closed the Extraordinary Session of Congress. (Congress reopened on June 1.) February: Official inauguration of the railway bridge over the River Bío-Bío. July: Strike by nitrate workers in the province of Tarapacá. Renovation work on Avery Hill House was completed (in late 1890). 1891 January 7: The start of the Chilean Civil War, when most of the Chilean fleet left Valparaíso. Mid-January: British and Chilean nitrates companies signed the agreement for the second ‘combination,’ which came into operation in March 1891, and broke down in early 1894. February: Revolutionary forces seized the nitrate province of Tarapacá. August: President Balmaceda’s army was routed at the battles of Concón and Placilla. September 19: President Balmaceda committed suicide, ushering in a parliamentary system that lasted until 1924. December 26: Jorge Montt became president of Chile (to September 18, 1896). 1892 August 6: The Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company (ABIR) was established at Antwerp. August 15: William Ewart Gladstone formed the fourth Liberal Gladstone Ministry (to March 2, 1894). August 26: An explosion at Park Slip colliery (North’s Navigation Collieries Company) killed 112 miners. November 3: Emma North married George Alexander Lockett. TIMELINE xxvii

The Nitrate Producers’ Steamship Company Ltd. was organized by North and John Latta. Maurice Jewell resigned his post as consul at Iquique. 1894 March 5: Archibald Primrose, 5th. Earl of Rosebery, formed the Liberal Rosebury Ministry (to June 22, 1895). April: The second nitrates “combination” broke down. June 15: The Lagunas Nitrate Company Ltd. was registered. October: The ‘Wealth of Nations’ gold mine in Australia was sold to North. November: The Londonderry Gold Mine was launched. The Colonel North Silver Mining Company was formed in Tasmania. The Khedive of Egypt conferred on North the title of “Commander of the Imperial Order of Osmanisch.” 1895 January 24: The Colonel J. T. North steamship was launched by Short Brothers in Sunderland. March 4: The Nitrate Producers’ Steamship Company Ltd. was incorporated. North campaigned against Herbert Gladstone for the Conservatives in a by-election at West Leeds. June 25: Robert Cecil, 3rd. Marquess of Salisbury formed the Conservative Salisbury Government (to July 11, 1902). September 14: Kirkstall Abbey was reopened to the public after renovation. The City of London Exploration Syndicate of Western Australia Ltd. was founded. King Leopold II leased land to North to create a luxury hotel com- plex for tourists in Ostend. 1896 The third nitrate “combination” was established, and lasted until 1897. May 5: Colonel North died of a heart attack at his City office in Gracechurch Street, London. July 27: The Avery Hill estate was put up for auction. 1897 May 3: Jane North and Harry North (son) laid the foundation stone in Maesteg of the Colonel North Memorial Hall. xxviii TIMELINE

1898 North’s widow sold Avery Hill House to Dr. Alonzo Henry Stocker. 1899 The Colonel North Mining & Railway Company was launched in Tasmania by the Colonel North Company. 1901 Robert Harvey was knighted. 1902 Avery Hill House and grounds were purchased by London County Council. 1904 London County Council’s Education Committee took over Avery Hill House. 1906 Avery Hill College was opened as a women’s residential teacher train- ing college. 1985 Avery Hill College merged with Thames Polytechnic, and now forms part of the Avery Hill Campus of the University of Greenwich. 1988 April 18: A Yorkshire Society plaque was unveiled in the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey, marking the centenary of North’s gift to Leeds. 2008 October 9: The Yorkshire Society plaque at Kirkstall Abbey was re- sited, and unveiled in Kirkstall Abbey Visitors’ Centre. 2009–10 Conservation work on the Winter Garden at Avery Hill undertaken by the University of Greenwich. Map of Northern and Central Chile

Map 0.1 Map of northern and central Chile. Prologue He Would Be Called Quiet

In person Colonel John Thomas North is of medium height and only moderately stout, not weighing perhaps more than 150 pounds. His hair is of yellowish-red, while his whiskers and mustache [sic] are somewhat lighter and streaked with gray. His chin is shaven as is the English fashion. His complexion is ruddy, as becomes a Yorkshireman, and by-the-way, though so long accustomed to speak the soft Spanish tongue, when he delivers himself in English the burr of the north of England is most conspicuous. In dress he would be called quiet were it not for his diamonds and jewelry . . . Such is the most conspicuous and important man owning those English interests in Chili of which we have lately heard so much.

Harper’s Weekly, February 6, 1892, p. 142