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OK - I have not read the article but I will point out that a century old kerosene refrigerator uses a wick and not a great deal of fuel plus a bucked of water to handle expansion and condensation.

Early kerosene refrigerators used a single cycle sytem where the ammonia boiled or evaporated as it was absorbed into water. To get the ammonia back and the water, the cold side was stuck in the bucket of water and the room temprature water chamber was heated by the kerosene flame to seperate the ammonia from the water. Do a Google search on "iceballs ammonia" for a version that still entertain people today who build their own.
Before you build your own, remember this runs on high pressure during regeneration, and uses ammonia, a relatively hazardous material.

http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/crosley_icyball.ht ml

Simple day/night tempratures will not complete the regeneration cycle. The temprature is too low. Even though very little kerosene is burned in those refrigerators, the burning kerosene did provide the required tempratures to complete the regeneration cycle.

IcyBall systems:
http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/HomeBuilt/HomeBuil t.html

Ammonia Absorbtion (commonly refered to as propane refrigeration, but propane is only used to supply heat, the heat could be supplied from another source.)
http://www.nh3tech.org/absorption.html

Peltier junctions are very inefficient (10% of carnot, against 40% for a standard compressor type design). And none of that tech fits in the category of 'can be fixed locally'.

I think the crosley icyball is a far better solution though: http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/crosley_icyball.ht ml

All of the technology would be doable with basic car repair technology, which is available pretty much everywhere. I can imagine the indians doing as a good a job with this approach as they do with the ubuiquitous petters: http://utterpower.com/petter.htm

Sometimes robust 19th century engineering can teach us something :)

The Crosley Icy Ball creates ice using ammonia absorbtion. All you need is a heat source(fire will do nicely) and an ice box of sorts and you're fine. You could easily modify a metal cooler to be the ice box. If you follow the link you will also see a design for an icyball that you can charge up and halt the colling process for later use.

These things would be great for camping.

http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/crosley_icyball.ht ml

GreasyBloater

It's an absorbtion system. They can run off of any heat source (LPG, electric element, even solar and bonfire charged). The Kerosene ones are really rare and can command a good buck from the right buyer. For more information (including plans on how to roll your own) see Homebuilt IcyBall

Britain is not still in the Middle Ages. Like its former colonies (the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), it is a land where immigrants are coming in for a chance at a better life, businesses are secure under a good (British) legal system, and people are free to elect their own leaders.

Despite those laws about nobility that you cite, the ruling elite have no more special privileges than the ruling elite of the United States. For example, see how many laws specifically do not apply to the Senate.

Like it or not, the United States was born of British parentage. And the apple did not fall far from the tree.