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.
Naval career
Born the third son of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet,[1] Michael Seymour entered the Royal Navy in 1813.[1] 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.[1] 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]
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, helped destroy the Chinese fleet in the Battle of Fatshan Creek in June 1857,[1] captured Canton in December,[1] and in 1858 he captured the forts on the Baihe (Hai River),[1] compelling the Chinese government to consent to the Treaty of Tientsin.[1] He was made GCB in 1859.[1] He sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Devonport from 1859 to 1863.[1] In 1863 he was made Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, a post he held until 1866.[1] He retired in 1870.[1]
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.
United Kingdom
Royal Navy
