Heard was born in Ottery St Mary, Devon to John Heard and wife Elizabeth Mitchell, daughter and heir of Benjamin Mitchell of the Great Seaside House in Branscombe. His grandfather, also named Isaac Heard, was a merchant who resided in Cork and Bridgwater, and had roots in Wiltshire. He was educated at HonitonGrammar School before joining the Royal Navy as a volunteer at age 15, on ,commanded by Captain Robert Man. On the Lynn brought him to the Mediterranean Sea, allowing him to visit Greece, Italy and locations on the Adriatic Sea. In 1849, he continued as a midshipman aboard. In August 1750, he was very nearly killed off the coast of Guinea, when a storm swept him overboard. Fortunately for him, he was swept off with the mast and he was quickly spotted in the water clinging to the mast and saved from drowning by midshipman Robert Kingsmill, who later became an Admiral and was made a baronet. He and Kingsmill remained close friends for life. Heard's own coat of arms, which he adopted in 1762, depicted the event.
Career
Heard was doubtful of his future in the Navy during peacetime, so in 1751, he began working as a merchant in Bilbao on the Bay of Biscay. His stay in Bilbao was cut short after the start of the Seven Years' War in 1756, when tensions between Spain and Britain forced him to return to London in 1757. In London, he continued working as a merchant. In London, Heard met the Deputy Earl Marshal, Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham, who noticed Heard's interest in antiquities. Effingham helped Heard began his heraldic career as Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary in December 1759. He would go on to hold the posts of Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary, Norroy King of Arms and Brunswick King of Arms. In 1784, he was appointed Garter Principal King of Arms. It was in this capacity that he helped to plan the funeral of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. Heard was knighted in the Order of the Garter on 2 June 1786.
Personal life
Heard married Katherine Tyler, born in Boston to a family of English settlers, who was the widow of Captain David Ochterlony of Scotland. After Captain Ochterlony died in the West Indies, Tyler moved back to England. She had four children; her oldest was Sir David Ochterlony, 1st Baronet, who rose to the rank of Major General in the East India Company. Heard became a close confidant of his stepson. His wife Katherine died in 1783. Four years later, Heard married a second time to Alicia Felton, widow of John George Felton, a customs inspector-general for the Leeward Islands. Heard had no children of his own with either wife. Heard continued as Garter until his death at the College of Arms in 1822 at the age of 91. Per his requested, he was buried behind the altar in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Arms
The Heard of Kinsale had been granted a crest in the 16th century; but Isaac Heard's descent was unproven. It was very similar to Yarde of Devon, and Heard may have been "Yarde" or "Yeard" previously. Argent, a chevron gules between three bougets sable. Crest: A demi-goat proper, horns, hooves and tufts or with a crown or about its neck with the motto:Toujours fidèle. Heard was granted arms in 1672 when he became the Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary. His arms portray his near-death experience at sea, as does his motto, Naufragus in portum.
Heard is mentioned in the poem Epitaph on a tuft-hunter by Thomas Moore 1779-1852:
Lament, lament, Sir Isaac Heard, Put mourning round thy page, Debrett, For here lies one who ne'er preferred A Viscount to a Marquis yet. Beside him place the God of Wit, Before him Beauty's rosiest girls, Apollo for a _star_ he'd quit, And Love's own sister for an Earl's. Did niggard fate no peers afford, He took of course to peers' relations; And rather than not sport a Lord Put up with even the last creations; Even Irish names could he but tag 'em With "Lord" and "Duke," were sweet to call; And at a pinch Lord Ballyraggum Was better than no Lord at all. Heaven grant him now some noble nook, For rest his soul! he'd rather be Genteelly damned beside a Duke, Than saved in vulgar company.
