Joseph Owen (businessman)
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Joseph Owen | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 15 May 1789 |
| Died | 7 September 1862 (aged 73) Ordrup, Denmark |
| Occupation | Industrialist |
Joseph Owen (15 May 1789 – 7 September 1862) was a British-Danish industrialist. He founded Fredens Mølles Fabrikker on Amager in 1746.
Owen was born on 15 May 1789, in Chelsea, London, the son of lawyer Charles Owen (c. 1765 – 1805) and Mary Newman (died 1793). He went to school in Westminster and received a commercial education in Danzig and Manchester.[1]
Career
Owen began working for Ryberg & Co. circa 1813. A few years later he established as a wine merchant. In 1821, he founded a mill which manufactured bone char for the city's sugar refineries. The activities were later expanded with the production of fertilizers. In 1826 he purchased Fredens Mølle on Amager and in 1831 established the first production of sulfuric acid in the Nordic countries.[2]
In 1846 he was the driving force behind the foundation of A/S Fredens Mølles Fabriker and served as the company's first managing director.[1]
Other activities
Owen was elected to Stænderforsamlingen in Roskilde in 1834, 1840 and 1846. He was a member of the Copenhagen City Council from 1840 to 1846. He was a candidate for Landstinget in 1849 but, in spite of support from the Society of the Friends of Peasants, was not elected.[1]
Property
Owen owned an estate in Jutland. In 1840 he was granted a concession on the reclamation of Nissum Fjord. He later sold the concession to a British company which constructed Thorsminde Canal and Lock.[1]