Michael Seymour (Royal Navy officer, born 1802)
Royal Navy Admiral (1802–1887)
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Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, GCB (3 December 1802 – 23 February 1887) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
United Kingdom
Royal NavySir Michael Seymour | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Admiral Seymour | |
| Born | 3 December 1802 |
| Died | 23 February 1887 (aged 84) Horndean, Hampshire, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Navy |
Service years | 1813–1870 |
Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | HMS Challenger HMS Britannia HMS Powerful HMS Vindictive China Station Portsmouth Command |
Conflicts | Crimean War Second Opium War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
Naval career
Born the third son of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet,[1] Michael Seymour entered the Royal Navy on 5 November 1813 as a volunteer aboard the 74 gun ship of the line HMS Hannibal, commanded by his father.[1] He was present when Hannibal captured the French frigate La Sultane off Cherbourg in March 1814 and attended the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth from March 1816 until October 1818. He was made lieutenant in 1822, commander in 1824 and was posted captain in 1826.[1]
From 1833 to 1835 he was captain of the survey ship HMS Challenger, and was wrecked in her off the coast of Chile on 19 May 1835.[1] The subsequent court martial honourably acquitted Seymour, concluding that the 1835 Concepción earthquake had altered the local marine landscape and coastal currents.[2] In 1841 he was given command of HMS Britannia and then of HMS Powerful.[1] In 1845 he took over HMS Vindictive.[1]
From 1851 to 1854 he was Commodore Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard.[1] In 1854 he served under Sir Charles Napier in the Baltic during the Crimean War.[1] He was promoted to Rear-Admiral that same year and, when the Baltic campaign was resumed in 1855 under Admiral the Hon. Richard Dundas, Seymour was second in command.[1] In his official report following the bombardment of Sveaborg in August, Dundas thanked Seymour for having afforded him "the most ready assistance" throughout the operation.[3]
On 19 February 1856 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the East Indies and China Station.[1] Flying his flag in HMS Calcutta,[1] he conducted operations arising from the attack on the British coaster Arrow.[1] During the Arrow War in China, he commanded the Battle of the Bogue in November 1856. Then at the Battle of Fatshan Creek on 1 June 1857, Seymour led the first division from the paddle tender Coromandel in an assault upon the 19 gun fort at Hyacinth Island, while Commodore Henry Keppel led the other divisions against the Chinese junk fleet. The operation resulted in the capture of between seventy and eighty heavily armed junks, most of which were burned.[4][5] He then participated in the capture of Canton in December,[1] and in 1858 led the capture of the forts on the Baihe (Hai River),[1] compelling the Chinese government to consent to the Treaty of Tientsin.[1]
Member of Parliament
He sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Devonport from 1859 to 1863.[1]
Later life
In 1863, he was made Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, a post he held until 1866.[1] He retired in 1870.[1]
He died at his home in Horndean near Portsmouth on 23 February 1887.[6]
Legacy
Seymour Road in Hong Kong Island was named after him.
Family
In 1829 he married Dorothy Knighton: they had a son and three daughters.[1] He was the uncle of Sir Edward Hobart Seymour, also a British admiral.
Art work
1846 July 30, to New York from Raritan River
Approaching La Guaira, Venezuela
