James Thomas Humberstone

James Thomas Humberstone (July 8, 1850 – June 12, 1939) was an English chemical engineer. In 1872, he founded the Peru Nitrate Company to extract saltpetre in the Tarapacá Province of Peru (now part of the Tarapacá Region of Chile. He introduced the Shanks System and other innovations to the industry. The mining town of Humberstone now forms part of the Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works, now abandoned, they were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Humberstone was born in Dover, England. His grandfather had been director of the band of the Scottish Guard. His father Decimus worked as a post office mail guard.

His family moved to London when he was young. Humberstone worked for the London and North Western Railway when he was 17. Later, he joined the Royal School of Mines in London.

When he was 25, he was hired by The Tarapaca Nitrate Company and moved to South America. Humberstone arrived at the Peruvian port of Pisagua on January 6, 1875, where he commenced working as a chemist and engineer.

In 1878 he implemented the Shanks system to make sodium carbonate. He also made other changes such as the transfer of waste water to avoid losing the materials in the rock.

...
Wikipedia