Poet, dramatist, reviewer and editor. The son of the law stationer James Abraham Heraud (d. 1846) and his wife Jane (d. 1850), he was educated privately. Eschewing the business career for which he had been intended, Heraud embarked on a literary life. He wrote essays, including ones on German literature, for periodicals, contributing to the Quarterly Review from 1827 and the Athenaeum from 1843. He was the assistant editor of Fraser’s Magazine 1830–1833. He also published poems, including the epics The Descent into Hell (1830) and The Judgement of the Flood (1834), and plays. Heraud had a wide circle of acquaintances. Southey was one of the many more established writers Heraud knew socially and from whom he solicited advice on his writing and literary career.