Name Henry Leigh | ||
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Henry hilton leigh top 5 facts
Lord Henry Hilton Leigh Whitney (died 1910 in Santo Domingo, Piura, Peru) was an Irish-Peruvian business magnate and philanthropist.
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Born in Old Ross, County Wexford, Ireland, Leigh emigrated to South America at the height of the Irish potato famine, arriving in Chile in 1853 before settling in Paita, Peru, in 1855. His Piura-based firm, H. H. Leigh, established the region's first cotton press, and by the early 20th century was Peru's leading exporter of cotton and cattle.
Leigh served as the founding president of the Piura Chamber of Commerce until 1905. According to one scholar, he was emblematic of the waves of immigrants who controlled and developed key economic sectors in 19th-century Peru.
Marriage and family
Leigh married Carmen Cortés del Castillo in 1857 and had no children. In 1886, he married Carmen's sister, Mercedes Jesús Cortés del Castillo, and had five children.