Born 30 January 1842 – 5 May 1896 was a British investor and businessman. North was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of a coal merchant and a churchwarden. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to millwrights and engineers before working for several years as a mechanic. He moved to Chile in South America where his first occupation was as a boiler riveter in Huasco. He later moved to the Peruvian town of Iquique where he worked as a waterworks operator, importer and ship owner.
