# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Seymour, George Francis

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​SEYMOUR, Kt., C.B., G.C.H. (Rear-Admiral of the Red, 1841. f-p., 22; h-p., 28.)
Sir George Francis Seymour, born in Sept. 1787, is eldest son of the late Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (fifth son of Francis, first Marquess of Hertford, K.G.) by Anne Horatia, third daughter of James, second Earl of Waldegrave, whose widow married, a second time, H.R.H. William Henry Duke of Gloucester, brother of King George III. He is brother of the late Lieut.-Colonel Hugh Henry Seymour; is uncle of Commander F. P. B. Seymour, R.N.; and is closely connected with the families of the Duke of Grafton, the Marquesses of Cholmondeley, Huntley, Bristol, and Londonderry, the Earls of Drogheda, Grandison, and Lincoln, the Viscounts Chetwynd and Torrington, and Lord Southampton.
This officer entered the Navy, 10 Oct. 1797, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Princess Augusta yacht, Capt. Edw. Riou, lying in the river Thames; and from March, 1798, until May, 1802, was employed ​on the Channel and West India stations, the last two years and four months in the capacity of Midshipman, in the Sanspareil 80, Prince of Wales 98, and Sanspareil again, all flag-ships of his father, and Acasta 40, Capt. Edw. Fellowes. In the Prince of Wales he witnessed the surrender of Surinam in Aug. 1799; and in the Acasta he assisted in making a variety of prizes. He was subsequently, in the course of 1802-3, employed on the Home, Newfoundland, and Mediterranean stations, in the Endymion 40, Capt. John Larmour, Isis 50, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Jas. Gambier, Endymion a second time, Capt. Hon. Chas. Paget, and Victory 100, bearing the flag of Lord Nelson. Under Capt. Paget we find him contributing, 18 and 25 June, 16 July, and 14 Aug. 1803, to the capture of La Colombe and La Bacchante corvettes of 16 and 18 guns, L’Adour store-ship, and Le Général Moreau privateer, of 16 guns. In Feb. and March, 1804, he was nominated in succession Acting-Lieutenant of the Madras 54, Capt. Chas. Marsh Sohomberg, and Donegal 74, Capts. Sir Rich. John Strachan and Pulteney Malcolm; and while in the latter ship, to which he was confirmed by a commission bearing date 12 Oct. 1804, he aided in taking the Spanish frigates Matilda and Amfitrite, the former laden with a cargo of quicksilver worth 200,000l. – accompanied Lord Nelson to the West Indies and back, in 1805, in pursuit of the combined squadrons of France and Spain – and participated in the capture of El Rayo of 100 guns, one of the ships recently defeated at Trafalgar. On 6 Feb. 1806, a few days after he had joined the Northumberland 74, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Hon. Alex. Cochrane, Lieut. Seymour fought in the action off St. Domingo; on which occasion a grape-shot penetrated his jaw, and carried away several teeth. Having been advanced, 22 Jan. preceding, to the rank of Commander, he removed as such, on 9 Feb., to the Kingfisher sloop; in which vessel in the ensuing May he took in tow the Pallas 32, Capt. Lord Cochrane, after that ship had been disabled in action, under the batteries of Ile d’Aix, with the French frigate La Minerve, He was posted, 29 July, 1806, into the Aurora 28, stationed in the Mediterranean; and was subsequently appointed – 15 Feb. 1808, to the Pallas 32, in which frigate he took part in Lord Cochrane’s celebrated attack upon the French shipping in Basque Roads – 16 Sept. 1809, 1 June, 1812, and 1 Jan. 1813, to the Manilla 36, Fortunée 36, and Leonidas 38, employed on the Lisbon, Irish, and West India stations – and 21 May, 1827, for a few months, to the Briton 46, engaged on particular service. In the Leonidas, which ship he left 14 Sept. 1814, Capt. Seymour captured, 23 May, 1813, the American privateer Paul Jones, of 16 guns and 85 men, 5 of whom were wounded during the chase. He was nominated a C.B. 4 June, 1815; awarded, 28 May, 1816, a pension of 250l. per annum for his wound; nominated a K.C.H. (accompanied with the honour of Knighthood) in 1831, and a G.C.H. 9 Dec. 1834; and advanced to Flag-rank 23 Nov. 1841. He filled a seat at the Board of Admiralty from Sept. 1841 until appointed, 14 May, 1844, Commander-in-Chief in the Pacific. He sailed for that station with his flag in the Collingwood 80, and continued there until relieved in 1848 by Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby.
In 1818 Sir G. F. Seymour was appointed by his uncle, the Marquess of Hertford, then Lord Chamberlain, Serjeant-at-Arms to the House of Lords. From 4 Aug. 1830 until he resigned, 11 Nov. following, he was a Naval Aide-de-Camp to William IV.; under whom he filled the office of Master of the Robes from 13 Sept. 1830 until the period of his death. Sir George married, in March, 1811, Georgina Mary, second daughter of the late Admiral Hon. Sir Geo. Cranfield Berkeley, G.C.B., by whom he has issue three sons and five daughters. His eldest son, Fras. Geo. Hugh, married to a daughter of the third Earl of Mansfield, is a Captain in the Scots Fusileer Guards; and his second, Geo. Henry, a Captain R.N. His eldest daughter is married to a son of Rear-Admiral Sir Thos. John Cochrane, K.C.B. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.
* ↑ Lord Hugh Seymour, an officer of surpassing excellence, was born 29 April, 1759, and entered the Navy about 1770, on board the Pallas frigate, Capt. Hon. Leveson Gower. Attaining Post-rank in 1779, he won distinction as Captain of the Latona frigate at the relief of Gibraltar in 1782, and was conspicuous for his valour in the Leviathan 74, in Lord Howe’s actions 28 and 29 May, and 1 June, 1794. For his conduct on the latter occasions he was appointed a Colonel of Marines. Attaining Flag-rank 1 June, 1795, he figured, in the Sanspareil 80, in Lord Bridport’s rencontre with the French fleets off the Ile de Groix. From 17 March, 1795, until the end of 1798, he retained a seat at the Board of Admiralty; and he afterwards, until death closed his career, 11 Sept. 1801, commanded in chief in the Leeward Islands and at Jamaica. In Aug. 1799 the colony of Surinam surrendered to the Naval and Military forces under the command of his Lordship and of Lieut.-Gen. Trigge.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1806, p. 373.
* ↑ The Manilla was lost off the Texel 28 Jan. 1812, while under the temporary command of Capt. John Joyce.
* ↑ He had been presented with a gratuity from the Patriotic Fund.
* ↑ See correction in the Addendum.
​SEYMOUR, Kt., G.C.H. (Rear-Admiral of the Red, 1841.)
Sir George Francis Seymour relieved Rear-Admiral Rich. Thomas in the chief command in the Pacific 13 Dec. 1844. In the early part of 1845 he exacted redress from the Peruvian government for injuries which had been inflicted on British subjects at Tacna and Arica, and, in concert with Mr. Adams, Charge d’Affaires, compelled the dismissal of the Prefect of the department. After visiting Tahiti with the French Rear-Admiral Hamelin for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of the indemnity due to Mr. Pritchard, H.B. Majesty’s Consul, for the losses sustained by that gentleman, he proceeded to the Sandwich Islands and took such steps as were advisable to strengthen the position of the Consul-General, Miller, and to afford protection to British subjects against the predominance assumed by foreigners in the native governments. In the month of Nov. he returned to Tahiti in order to inquire into the previous independence of the N.W. group of the Society Islands, and to prevent the French from extending the protectorate they had induced Queen Pomare to yield by treaty beyond the limits of her sovereignty. In reference to this question Sir George visited the islands of Huahine, Raiatea, and Bola-bola, and traversed a part of the Pacific that had not before been navigated by a ship-of-the-line. Ultimately he had the satisfaction of announcing to the chiefs of the three islands that their independence was recognised both by Great Britain and France. During the discussion with the United States relative to the Oregon territory, the Rear-Admiral went to the North Pacific and remained principally at the same ports as the American squadron until matters were adjusted between the two governments. In 1846, the points at issue between the British Agents and the Hawaian government having been submitted to his judgment, he disposed of them in such a manner as, in the opinion of H.M. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to impress the Hawaian government with reliance on the justice and the disinterested views of the British government. His proceedings at Peru and the Society Islands had procured him similar expressions of approval. In 1847, when a general blockade was imposed by the Americans on the coast of Mexico, Sir Geo. Seymour adopted measures that had the effect of protecting British commerce on the west coast from injury during the war. He subsequently received payment from the Republic of Lima of the sums, due to British merchants, which had been promised to his predecessors; and he succeeded in obtaining, for the ships under his orders, indemnities, before evaded, from the revolutionary governments of Central America. In the early part of 1848 he re-examined the coal-mines in the province of Conception, in Chili, as well as in Valdivia and the island of Chiloe. In April of the same year he transferred the command he had held to Rear-Admiral Hornby; and on leaving Valparaiso he had the gratification of receiving a flattering expression of respect and good will from the British merchants there resident. He arrived at Spithead on 10 July, having, since his departure thence, sailed 76,000 miles. On the following day he struck his flag; and on the 25th he received from the Board of Admiralty a letter conveying to him “its entire approbation of his conduct during a command their Lordships deemed to have been of unusual responsibility and anxiety.” It is worthy of remark, that, during the whole period of Sir G. F. Seymour’s command, not a single court-martial took place.
His eldest son, Fras. Geo. Hugh, is now a Lieut.Colonel in the Army and Equerry to Prince Albert; his eldest daughter married Chas. Corkran, Esq., of Long Ditton, co. Surrey, and not, as we have stated, a son of Sir T. J. Cochrane.