John Diston Powles

John Diston Powles (c. 1787–14 September 1867) was an English businessman. In the mid-1820s he was heavily involved in the promotion of South American mining companies, and enlisted a young Benjamin Disraeli to write pamphlets promoting these mines, particularly those in Chile. [For general background, see Malcolm Deas, "Powles, John Diston (1787/8–1867)," in "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004). For the Anglo-Chilian Mining Association, see Claudio Veliz, "Egana, Lambert, and the Chilean Mining Associations of 1825" in "The Hispanic American Historical Review", Vol. 55, No. 4. (Nov., 1975), pp. 639.] Powles was involved in the creation of the St. John d'el Rey Mining Company in 1830 and served as its first chairman. [Marshall G. Eakin, "Business Imperialism and British Enterprise in Brazil: The St. John d'el Rey Mining Company, Limited, 1830-1960" in "The Hispanic American Historical Review", Vol. 66, No. 4. (Nov., 1986), pp. 706]

Powles died at Elstree in 1867.

Notes

References

*Deas, Malcolm. "Powles, John Diston (1787/8–1867)." In "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004.
*Eakin, Marshall G. ""Business Imperialism and British Enterprise in Brazil: The St. John d'el Rey Mining Company, Limited, 1830-1960." In "The Hispanic American Historical Review", Vol. 66, No. 4. (Nov., 1986), pp. 697-741.
*Veliz, Claudio. "Egana, Lambert, and the Chilean Mining Associations of 1825." In "The Hispanic American Historical Review", Vol. 55, No. 4. (Nov., 1975), pp. 637-663.