Robert Edward Alison (1803–66)
Merchant and metalworks owner. Resident in Valparaiso, Chile, in the 1830s. Helped CD with geological observations. Partner in the merchant company of Corfield and Co., Valparaiso, and Alison and Co., London; partnership dissolved 1840. Ran a smelting house at Coquimbo, Chile, in the 1850s. Founded the copper works of Compañía Chilena de Fundiciones in Guayacán in 1856. Died at Santa Fe de Bogotá, New Granada, South America.