Lord Hugh Seymour

Lord Hugh Seymour
Lord Hugh Seymour, 1799 John Hoppner
Born	29 April 1759 London, England
Died	11 September 1801 (1801-09-12) (aged 42) HMS Tisiphone, off Jamaica
Allegiance	Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1770–1801
Rank	Vice-Admiral
Commands held	HMS Diana HMS Ambuscade HMS Latona HMS Canada HMS Leviathan HMS Sans Pareil Leeward Islands Station Jamaica Station
Battles/wars	American War of Independence • Great Siege of Gibraltar French Revolutionary Wars • Siege of Toulon • Glorious First of June • Battle of Groix
Other work	MP for Newport, Tregony, Wendover and Portsmouth

Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (29 April 1759 – 11 September 1801) was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the late 18th century who was the fifth son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford and became known for being both a prominent society figure and a highly competent naval officer. He served during the American Revolutionary and French Revolutionary Wars and later in his career performed a period of shore duty on the Admiralty board.

Seymour maintained a reputation as a courageous and innovative officer: he was awarded a commemorative medal for his actions at the battle of the Glorious First of June and is credited with introducing epaulettes to Royal Navy uniforms as a method of indicating rank to non-English speaking allies. In his youth he formed close personal friendships with fellow officer John Willett Payne and George, Prince of Wales, through association with whom he gained a reputation as a rake. His marriage in 1785, made at the insistence of his family as an antidote to his dissolution, was brought about through royal connections and proved very successful. During his lifetime he also held several seats as a member of parliament in the Parliament of Great Britain, although he did not pursue an active political career.

Hugh Seymour was born in 1759 into one of the wealthiest families in England, as 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, at which point he shortened it to Seymour). He was initially educated at Bracken's Academy in Greenwich, where he met lifelong friend John Willett Payne, before joining the Navy at age 11 at his own insistence. Seymour became a captain's servant on the yacht William & Mary, and two years later moved to HMS Pearl under his relation Captain John Leveson-Gower, stationed off Newfoundland. After several short commissions, including service in the West Indies under George Rodney, Seymour was attached to HMS Alarm as a midshipman in the Mediterranean. Apart from a brief spell in HMS Trident, Seymour remained on her for several years, becoming a lieutenant in 1776. By 1776 the American Revolutionary War was underway, and Seymour continued in Alarm until he was made a commander in 1778, taking command of the xebec HMS Minorca.