Very litle is known about Hepplewhite imself. He served his apprenticeship in Lancaster and then moved to London where he opened a shop. After he died in 1786 the business was carried on by his widow, Alice. In 1788 she published a book with about 300 of his designs, "The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterers' Guide". Two further editions were published in 1789 and 1790.
The book influenced cabinet makers and furniture companies for several generations. The work of these generations inluenced in turn copies of the original designs and variants of them through the 19th and 20th centuries.