Lord Hugh Seymour

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. Following the Peace of Paris in 1783, Seymour took a house in London with his brother Lord George Seymour and John Willett Payne. The three men became notorious socialites, joining the Prince of Wales on many of his drinking exploits across London: Seymour remained close friends with Prince George for the rest of his life. Seymour, already known for his good looks, good manners, height and martial bearing, rapidly gained a reputation for dissolution. ==French Revolutionary Wars==

In the Spanish armament of 1790, Seymour was called to service in command of the ship of the line HMS Canada, opening his commission with a cruise off the Isle of Wight. Passing through shallow water, Seymour ordered the use of a lead line to measure the depth ahead, but was accidentally struck in the head by the lead weight while soundings were being taken. Although little immediate damage seemed to have been caused, during the firing of a salute several days later Seymour suddenly suffered a severely adverse reaction and had to be taken ashore for emergency medical treatment. The head injury rendered him unable to endure any loud noises or bright lights and for the next three years he lived as an invalid at his country estate in Hambledon. By 1793 Seymour was sufficiently recovered to return to service, and escorted Lord Hood to the Mediterranean in HMS Leviathan. There Hood led the occupation, defence and ultimate withdrawal from Toulon during the Republican siege of the city. Following the collapse of the city's defences, Seymour was sent back to England with dispatches but returned shortly afterward to convoy Leviathan back to Britain. Leviathan then engaged closely with America, which she reduced to a battered wreck in a duel that lasted two hours. Leviathan was also badly damaged, having taken fire from Éole and Trajan during the fighting. At Howe's order, Seymour then left America (which was later captured) and joined the reformed fleet that held off a French counter-attack in the latter stages of the battle. In the aftermath of the action, Seymour was one of the captains marked out for praise, being presented with a medal commemorating his service during the engagement. Leviathan had suffered 11 killed and 32 wounded in the engagement. In 1795, Seymour moved to the recently captured and soon became a rear-admiral, engaging the French at the Battle of Groix. Both ships were captured in heavy fighting, and Sans Pareil suffered ten killed and two wounded during the exchange. In 1796, Seymour was employed in the search for the French fleet which attempted and failed to invade Ireland, but Sans Pareil was badly damaged in a collision with HMS Prince during the campaign and had to be decommissioned for extensive repairs. In April 1797, Seymour returned to sea with a small squadron of six ships searching the Eastern Atlantic for a Spanish treasure convoy. Although the convoy was eventually seized by a force sent by Lord St. Vincent, Seymour had covered over 5,000 miles in his fruitless search. ==Admiralty service and death==

Seymour had joined the Admiralty in 1795, becoming a Lord of the Admiralty and participating in much of the work the Admiralty board performed between 1795 and 1798, interposing his periods on land with brief sea commissions. In August he led the naval squadron in the capture of Surinam in his flagship . Sometime after 3 May 1800 he went on to be commander-in-chief of the Jamaica Station. However, in 1801 he fell ill, contracting Yellow Fever. He was sent to sea by his doctors in an attempt to regain his health but died aboard HMS Tisiphone in September 1801. Seymour's body was taken from Jamaica on the morning of 17 September 1801, for return to Britain aboard HMS Pickle (originally a Bermudian-built merchant vessel named Sting) and joined that of his wife, who had died in Bristol a few days before her husband's death. ==Legacy==

on Baltra Island (on the right), previously known as South Seymour Island, showing Santa Cruz on the left across the Itabaca Channel The Royal Navy has named two ships after Seymour. The first was a destroyer leader that was launched in 1916, saw service in World War I, and was sold in 1930. The second was a frigate active from 1943 to 1946 that served during World War II. North Seymour Island () in the Galápagos is named in his honour, the "north" distinguishing it from nearby Baltra Island, which was formerly known as South Seymour Island, also in his honour. The airport on Baltra is still named Seymour Airport and the pair of islands are still sometimes known as the Seymours or the Seymour Group. Through his son, Horace, he is an ancestor of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. ==Ancestry==