Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Augustine did not graduate and instead, in 1803, began working for a prominent Boston, Massachusetts merchant, Ebenezer Francis.

He pursued his naval career for 18 years, becoming a renowned navigator and his feats became the subject of poems and stories.

[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.