Joseph Owen (15 May 1789 – 7 September 1862) was a British-

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

industrialist. He founded on

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

in 1746.

Early life and education

Owen was born on 15 May 1789, in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, the son of lawyer Charles Owen (c. 1765 – 1805) and Mary Newman (died 1793). He went to school in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

and received a commercial education in Danzig and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

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 Bone char ( lat, carbo animalis) is a porous, black, granular material produced by charring animal bones. Its composition varies depending on how it is made; however, it consists mainly of tricalcium phosphate (or hydroxyapatite) 57–80%, calci ...

for the city's sugar refineries. The activities were later expanded with the production of fertilizers. In 1826 he purchased on

and in 1831 established the first production of

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

. In 1846 he was the driving force behind the foundation of A/S and served as the company's first managing director.

Other activities

Owen was elected to in Roskilde in 1834, 1840 and 1846. He was a member of the

Copenhagen City Council The Copenhagen City Council (Danish: ) is the municipal government of Copenhagen, Denmark, and has its seat at Copenhagen City Hall. The city council is Copenhagen's highest political authority and sets the framework for the committees' tasks. ...

from 1840 to 1846. He was a candidate for

Landstinget Landstinget was the upper house of the Rigsdag (the parliament of Denmark), from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished in favour of unicameralism. Landstinget had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of par ...

in 1849 but, in spite of support from , was not elected.

Property

Owen owned an estate in

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. In 1840 he was granted a concession on the reclamation of

Nissum Fjord Nissum Fjord is an inlet located in West Jutland, west of Vemb and is demarcated from the North Sea by a 1.3 km wide isthmus, Bøvling Klit, and passes through a lock in Thorsminde. The inlet has a water area of 70 km2 or 7,000 ha. but ...

. He later sold the concession to a British company which constructed Thorsminde Canal and Lock.

Personal life and legacy

Owen married Susanne Christine van der Pallien (1 August 1794 – 15 November 1884) on 1 March 1816 in the Church of the Holy Ghost in Copenhagen. She was a daughter of Ryberg & Co. partner Georg Daniel van der Pallien (c. 1764–1841) and Elisabeth (Betsy) Juditha Christiansen (c. 1778–1865). Owen's eldest son, George Owen, had founded Aldersro Brickworks and Aldersro Brewery at Vibenshus Runddel in 1856–1860. was continued by his younger son Frederick Owen. was located at

Amagerbrogade Amagerbrogade is the main shopping street and thoroughfare of the part of Copenhagen, Denmark that is located on the island of Amager . It begins at the end of the causeway which connects Amager to Christianshavn and the city centre on the other si ...

11. The factory was destroyed by fire in 1890. It was sold to the Danish Sulphuric Acid and Superphosphate Plant () and moved to

Kastrup Kastrup () is a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, on the east coast of Amager in Tårnby Municipality. It is the site of Copenhagen Airport. In Danish, the airport is often called ''Kastrup Lufthavn'' (Kastrup Airport) or ''Københavns Lufthavn, Kast ...

in the early 1900s. The site on Amagerbrogade was sold to Hermann Ebert, founder of nearby Eberts Villaby. He demolished the factory and constructed an apartment building at the site in 1906. The building was designed by K. E. Mandrup Poulsen. It is called and a relief above one of the doors commemorates the long industrial history of the site. Owen died on 7 September 1862 in

Ordrup Ordrup is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located circa north of the city centre. History Ordrup was originally a small village which only consisted of eight farms and a forge. The area ...

and is buried at

Assistens Cemetery Assistens Cemetery ( da, Assistens Kirkegård) is the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark. The common nominator is, as the first part of the name implies (Latin: ''assistens'' meaning assisting), an assisting cemetery for a town's churches. ...

in Copenhagen.

References