Augustine Heard - China

China

In 1830, at the age of 45, Heard settled in Canton, China, where we became partner in the American trading firm Samuel Russell & Co. 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. 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 very successful, and rapidly grew to become the third largest American firm in China. 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. The firm, like many other American firms involved in trade with China, 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.