Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet

Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet KCB (8 November 1768 – 9 July 1834) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of rear-admiral.

Family and early life

Seymour was born in Pallas,

Richard Edwards, then the commander-in-chief at Newfoundland. Edwards was replaced by Vice-Admiral John Campbell in 1782, and both Luttrell and Seymour moved aboard HMS Mediator. The Mediator then returned to Britain to cruise off the French coast.^[1]

On 12 December 1782 the Mediator pursued five French frigates in the Bay of Biscay. The French formed a line of battle, confident in their superior numbers, but Luttrell engaged them, breaking their line. He overhauled one and captured her, the 24-gun Alexander, with 120 crew aboard.^[1] The remainder then fled, pursued by Luttrell. They then split up, forcing Luttrell to choose to remain with the largest. He eventually caught up with her and brought her to battle. The enemy, the 34-gun Menegere with 212 men aboard, was forced to surrender. Luttrell began the return voyage to England with his prizes, having to deal with an attempted uprising amongst his French prisoners part way through the voyage on 14 December. Despite having only 190 men to deal with 340 prisoners, the rising was quashed without bloodshed.^[1] Seymour remained aboard the Mediator until 1783, when he moved to HMS Ganges. He eventually served on a number of different ships, before receiving his commission as a lieutenant in 1790. He joined HMS Magnificent that year, but left when she was paid off in 1791.^[1]

Advancement

Seymour returned to service with the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, serving aboard HMS Marlborough under George Cranfield Berkeley. The Marlborough formed part of the fleet under Lord Howe, and Seymour was thus present at the Glorious First of June, on 1 June 1794. During the battle, the Marlborough came under attack from three French warships, the 78-gun Impétueux, the 74-gun Mucius and the 120-gun Montagne. The Marlborough was heavily damaged but was able to defend herself and resist French attempts to capture her. During the battle Seymour had his left arm shot off.^[1]

Seymour recovered from his wound, and was promoted to commander. He received his first command in mid-1796, that of the sloop

guinea piece of plate from the Lloyd's Patriotic Fund, and the Freedom of the Cities of Cork and Limerick. On 6 April 1809 he engaged, and captured the 44-gun frigate Niemen. For this he was created a baronet the following month.^[2]^[1]

Later career

Seymour then served on the

Royal Yacht several years later.^[1] He became Commissioner of Portsmouth Dockyard, but after the post was abolished, was promoted to Rear-Admiral, and appointed to command the South American Station. He received a pension of £300 for the loss of his arm.^[1]

Death

Seymour was already in poor health on his departure from England, and died at Rio de Janeiro on 9 July 1834.^[1] He was buried at Cemitério dos Ingleses, Gamboa on 15 July in a large funeral attended by English, French, American and Spanish officers, and other civilian officials. As a gesture of respect, the national flags on the ships in the harbour were flown at half-mast, and salutes were fired.^[1] A memorial was later erected in his memory at St Anns Church, Portsmouth.^[3]

Family

Michael Seymour's younger brother, Richard, also joined the navy, reaching the rank of lieutenant. He served aboard

Michael and Edward, followed their father into the navy. Michael had a distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral. Edward served briefly as flag lieutenant under his father, but died relatively young, and was posthumously promoted to commander.^[1]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Annual Biography and Obituary. pp. 195–201.
^ "No. 16253". The London Gazette. 2 May 1809. p. 621.
^ Memorials in Portsmouth Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ Gentleman's Magazine. p. 537.

References

"No. XV. Sir Michael Seymour, of High Mount, County Cork, and friary Park, Devon, Bart. and K.C.B.; Rear-Admiral of the Blue; and Commander-in-Chief on the South American Station". The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Year 1835. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. 1835. pp. 195–201.
"Rr-Adm. Sir M. Seymour, Bt.". The Gentleman's Magazine. Volume II. New Series. MDCCCXXXIV. July to December Inclusive. 1834. pp. 536–537.
Clarke (1833). "Seymour, Sir Michael". The Georgian Era: Memoirs of the Most Eminent Persons, who Have Flourished in Great Britain, from the Accession of George the First to the Demise of George the Fourth. Vizetelly, Branston and Co. pp. 529–530.
The Seymour family at thepeerage.com

External links

Media related to Sir Michael Seymour at Wikimedia Commons

Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Highmount and Friery Park) 1809–1834	Succeeded by John Culme-Seymour
Military offices
Preceded by Thomas Baker	Commander-in-Chief, South America Station 1833–1834	Succeeded by Graham Hamond

[Annual_Biography_and_Obituary-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Annual Biography and Obituary. pp. 195–201.

[2] "No. 16253". The London Gazette. 2 May 1809. p. 621.

[3] Memorials in Portsmouth Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[Gentleman's_Magazine-4] Gentleman's Magazine. p. 537.

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