Thursday, 19 December 2013
357 Michael Seymour
Constituency : Devonport 1859-63
Sir Michael replaced Thomas Perry at Devonport when he was appointed to the Council of India.
Michael was the son of Admiral Seymour who served in the Napoleonic Wars.He joined the navy at a young age. From 1851 to 1854 he was Commodore Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard. He then saw service in the Baltic Campaign of the Crimean War under Charles Napier where he was promoted to Rear Admiral and became second in command. In 1856 he became commander-in-chief of the East Indies and China station and led the naval response to the attack on the Arrow forcing the Chinese to accept the Treaties of Tianjin.
Although Michael's parliamentary career was brief he spoke frequently in the House on naval matters and his presence was a boon to Palmerston in his tussles with Gladstone over defence spending. He sympathised with the South in the American Civil War and tipped off a Confederate agent about plans to seize the warship that became the Alabama.
In 1863 Michael became Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth and resigned his seat. It fell to the Tories in the by-election. He held the post until 1866. He retired in 1870 and received the title of Vice-Admiral of the UK in 1876.
He died in 1887 aged 84.
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