Lord Hugh Seymour

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Lord Hugh Seymour
29 April 1759 – 11 September 1801
Place of birth	London, England
Place of death	HMS Tisphone, off Jamaica
Allegiance	Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1770 to 1801
Rank	Royal Navy Vice-Admiral
Battles/wars	American War of Independence • Great Siege of Gibraltar French Revolutionary Wars • Siege of Toulon • Glorious First of June • Battle of Groix

Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (29 April 1759 – 11 September 1801) was a senior and experienced British Royal Navy officer of the later eighteenth century who was the fifth son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford and became known for his good looks and figure in society as well as his competence as a naval officer, especially in several designs he produced of new sail arrangements. He is also credited with introducing epaulettes for Royal Navy officers and for service in several actions during the American Revolutionary and the French Revolutionary Wars as well as shore duty with the Admiralty. Seymour also held several seats as an MP in the Parliament of Great Britain, although he did not pursue an active political career.

Contents 1 Early career 2 French Revolutionary Wars 3 Admiralty service and death 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Early career

Hugh Seymour was born in 1759 into one of the wealthiest families in England, the fifth son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford and his wife Isabella Fitzroy. Hugh retained the surname "Seymour-Conway" until his father's death in 1794, when he shortened it. He was educated at Bracken's Academy in Greenwich until the age of 11 when he became a captain's servant on the yacht William & Mary. Two years later he joined HMS Pearl under his relation Captain John Leveson Gower. After several short commissions, Seymour was attached to HMS Alarm as a midshipman.^[1] Seymour remained on her until he became lieutenant in 1776, apart from a brief spell in HMS Trident. By 1776 the American Revolutionary War was underway and Seymour served in Alarm in the Mediterranean until he was made commander in 1778, taking command of the xebec HMS Minorca.^[1]

In 1779, Seymour was promoted once more, making post captain in HMS Porcupine, HMS Diana, HMS Ambuscade and HMS Latona all in the Channel Fleet. The only major operation in which he participated during the period was the conclusion of the Great Siege of Gibraltar, when Latona was attached to Richard Howe's fleet which relieved the fortress.^[1]

Following the peace in 1783, Seymour took a house in London with his brother and John Willett Payne and the three became notorious socialites, joining the Prince of Wales on his many drinking binges across London. Seymour gained a reputation for dissolution at this time as well as becoming notorious in society for his good looks, good manners, height and marshal bearing.^[1] In 1785 however, Seymour settled down at the insistence of his family and married Lady Anne Horatia Waldegrave, daughter of Earl Waldegrave. Despite this curtailment of his social life, Seymour remained friends with the Prince for the rest of his life.^[1] It was also during this period that Seymour made his first foray into politics, becoming MP for Newport on the Isle of Wight but relinquishing it two years later. In 1788 he became MP for Tregony, but in 1790 he switched to become MP for Wendover. Seymour remained there until 1796 when he changed his seat to Portsmouth, where he remained until his death. He did not served as an active politician in any of these positions, preferring his navy career to his political one.

[edit] French Revolutionary Wars

In the Spanish armament of 1790, Seymour was called to service in command of the ship of the line HMS Canada but suffered a serious head injury from falling tackle which rendered him and invalid for most of the next three years, living in the country. By 1793 he was sufficiently recovered to return to service and escorted Lord Hood to the Mediterranean in HMS Leviathan.^[1] There Hood led the occupation, defence and ultimate withdrawal from Toulon during the Republican siege of the city. Following the collapse of the defence, Seymour was sent back to England with dispatches, but returned shortly afterward to convoy Leviathan back to Britain.

In the Channel Fleet, Leviathan was attached to service under Lord Howe and served with him during the campaign which culminated in the Glorious First of June, when a French fleet was defeated by Howe's innovative tactics, but was ultimately successful in protecting a large grain convoy from the United States. In 1795, Seymour moved to the recently captured HMS Sans Pareil and soon became a rear-admiral in her, engaging the French at the Battle of Groix. Later in the year Seymour temporarily retired from the sea, still suffering ill-health from his injury five years before.^[1]

[edit] Admiralty service and death

Seymour joined the Admiralty after his semi-retirement, becoming a Lord of the Admiralty and participating in much of the work the Admiralty performed between 1795 and 1798, interposing his periods on land with brief sea commissions.^[1] In 1799, Seymour became a vice-admiral and commanded the squadron blockading Brest for the next year, an uneventful but important position. In 1800 Seymour was sent to the West Indies as commander-in-chief of Jamaica but fell ill soon after arriving, attacked by Yellow Fever. He was sent to sea by his doctors in an attempt to regain his health but died aboard HMS Tisphone in September 1801.^[1]

Seymour's body was returned to Britain aboard HMS Sting and joined that of his wife who had died in Bristol a few days before her husband's death.^[1] His extensive estates were dispersed amongst his seven children, one of which, Sir George Seymour, later became an admiral himself. (Another son, Horace Beauchamp Seymour, was the ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales through his grandson the 6th Earl Spencer.) His death was widely mourned among his contemporaries, Earl St Vincent once describing him as "an excellent officer".^[1] His service had been energetic and characterised by innovation and invention; he developed a new system of fitting topmasts and is also credited with making epaulettes standard among Royal Navy officers.^[1]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Seymour, Lord Hugh. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, A. W. H. Pearsall.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Sir Richard Worsley John St. John	Member of Parliament for Newport, Isle of Wight with Edward Rushworth 1784–1786	Succeeded by Edward Rushworth Hon. John Townsend
Preceded by Robert Kingsmill Lloyd Kenyon	Member of Parliament for Tregony with Robert Kingsmill 1788–1790	Succeeded by John Stephenson Matthew Montagu
Preceded by John Ord Robert Burton	Member of Parliament for Wendover with John Barker Church 1790–1796	Succeeded by John Hiley Addington George Canning
Preceded by Hon. Thomas Erskine Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh	Member of Parliament for Portsmouth with Hon. Thomas Erskine 1796–1801	Succeeded by Hon. Thomas Erskine Jonathan Markham

Persondata
NAME	Seymour, Lord Hugh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Seymour-Conway, Hugh
SHORT DESCRIPTION	British Royal Navy admiral
DATE OF BIRTH	29 April 1759
PLACE OF BIRTH	London, England
DATE OF DEATH	11 September 1801
PLACE OF DEATH	HMS Tisphone, off Jamaica