Albert Farley Heard (October4, 1833 – March26, 1890) was an American banker and diplomat who was the second-ranked member on the founding committee of
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).[1] He was the son of Elizabeth Ann Farley and George Washington Heard, brother of
Augustine Heard. After graduating from
Yale University, he went to
China to assist his uncle in business and ultimately succeed him in heading the management of his
trading firm,
Augustine Heard & Co.
Career in China
Heard was born on October4, 1833 in
Ipswich, Massachusetts[2] and graduated from Yale University in 1853,[3] having submitted his thesis on the late medieval philosopher and reformer
John Huss.[4] Thereafter he travelled to Canton (now known as
Guangzhou), China to join the family firm of
Augustine Heard & Co.[5] becoming a partner in 1856[6] and later managing partner. During his tenure as head of the firm, Heard fought off serious competition in the
Yangtze River steamer trade from rival American firm
Russell & Company.[7]
Along with the three other Shanghai businessmen, R.C. Antrobus, James Whittal and Henry Dent, in 1860 Heard purchased 40
mu (about 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft)) of land within the
Shanghai Race Club for cricket and other sports.[8] He also later served as the Russian consul general in the city,[9] and as the representative of the Chinese government in
Russia.[5] In 1887, he published The Russian church and Russian dissent, comprising orthodoxy, dissent, and erratic sects, covering multiple aspects of
Russian orthodoxy.[10] In 1857, during the
Second Opium War, Heard traveled from Shanghai to
Hong Kong aboard the steamer Antelope.[5] Outside of business, Heard is known to have owned a collection of pictures by the early photographer
Felice Beato.[11]
Return to the US
Heard left China in May 1873, having first conveyed a parcel of land at the corner of
Aberdeen and
Staunton Streets in Hong Kong to his "protected" Chinese woman,[A] Lam Kew-fong.[12] Back in America, Heard married Mary Allen Livingstone.[13] He died on March26 1890 in
Washington, D.C.[2]
^Kwang-Ching Liu (June 1955). "Administering a Steam-Navigation Company in China, 1862–1867". The Business History Review. 29 (2). Harvard College: 157–188.
JSTOR3111385.