Augustine Heard
Augustine Heard | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 30, 1785 |
| Died | September 14, 1868 (aged 83) |
| Citizenship | Ipswich Public Library |
| Parent(s) | Father, John Heard (1744-1834) |
| Relatives | Half-brother Daniel (1778-1801), nephews Albert Farley, George Farley, and Augustine Heard |
Augustine Heard (March 30, 1785 – September 14, 1868) was an American entrepreneur, businessman and trader, and founder of the Augustine Heard & Co. firm in China.
Early career
Augustine Heard was born into a wealthy merchant family of
China
In 1830, at the age of 45, Heard settled in Canton, China, where he became partner in the trading firm of Samuel Russell & Co., by then the leading American opium dealer in China.[3] In 1834, he returned to Boston for health reasons, and managed his business from there. He also developed close ties with his nephews, the sons of his brother George Washington Heard, and developed a business relationship with them. Heard set up his own company, Augustine Heard & Co., in 1840 with Joseph Coolidge and John Murray Forbes, friends and partners who had remained in Canton. The firm became successful, and grew rapidly to become the third largest American firm in China by trading in tea and opium.[1] Heard returned to China the following year and actively directed his firm until 1844 when he gradually started scaling down his involvement, travelling extensively to Europe and America, leaving the firm's operations in the hands of his partners and family members.[4] By 1850, as well as the head office in Canton, the firm had branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Fuchow with agencies in Amoy and Ningpo.[5]
As with many other American firms involved in trade with China at the time, Augustine Heard & Co. encountered financial difficulties in the 1870s and finally went bankrupt in 1875. A sister company bearing the same name established in the United States for the purpose of running operations from the U.S. side, had been created on April 13, 1861 and was dissolved on May 31, 1865.[6]
Retirement
In the late 1840s, Heard started developing his business in
Family
Augustine Heard largely entrusted control over Augustine Heard & Co. to members of his family. Among his family members who were involved in running the firm were his nephews Albert Heard, George Farley Heard, namesake Augustine Heard and John Heard, with whom he had returned to China in 1844.[4][9] Nephew Augustine later became U.S. Minister to Korea.
References
- ^ a b "Genealogy Find: The Exploits of Captain Augustine Heard". Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- Riverside Press, pp. 4–5
- ^ McQuiston 2013, p. 61.
- ^ a b "Ipswich Historical Society and Museum: Augustine Head". Archived from the original on 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ May & Fairbank 1986, p. 261.
- ^ "U.S. Supreme Court WILLIAMS v. HEARD, 140 U.S. 529 (1891)". Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Art Works in the Ipswich Public Library". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Services at the Funeral of Augustine Heard, at the Church of the First Parish, Ipswich, Mass. September 16, 1868". Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Amy Heard: Letters from the Gilded Age". Retrieved 2007-08-07.
Bibliography
- May, E.R.; Fairbank, John K (1986). America's China Trade in Historical Perspective: The Chinese and American Performance. Harvard studies in American-East Asian relations. Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 9780674030756.
- McQuiston, Julian R. (2013). William B. Cushing in the Far East: A Civil War Naval Hero Abroad, 1865-1869. McFarland, Incorporated Publishers. ISBN 9780786470556.
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