She was born on February 1, 1840, in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, the first-born child and daughter of Abram Henry Fayerweather (1812–1850) and Mary Kekahimoku Kolimoalani Beckley (1820–1850).

She was the maternal granddaughter of British Captain George Charles Beckley and Ahia, a distant relation of the reigning House of Kamehameha and descendant of the 15th-century King Līloa.

The family business in Hawaiʻi steadily grew with investments in retail, shipping, opium sales, and sugar and coffee plantations.

[5][6] After the death of Afong's eldest son Chun Alung in 1889, he sold or reorganized most of his business holdings in Hawaiʻi and invested in the Douglas Steamship Company in Hong Kong.

London's highly embellished story of Afong depicts him as a "crafty coolie" who spites the white capitalist establishment through his own business success.

[19] [20] Newspapers and online sources Books and journals Media related to Julia Fayerweather Afong at Wikimedia Commons