Beauchamp Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester

Admiral The Lord Alcester
Lord Alcester
Nickname	The Ocean Swell
Born	(1821-04-12)12 April 1821
Died	30 March 1895(1895-03-30) (aged 73)
Place of birth	London, England
Place of death	London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1834–1885
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Meteor (1855-56) Naval Brigade, New Zealand (1860-61) Junior Naval Lord (1872-74) Channel Fleet (1874-77) Mediterranean Fleet (1880-83) Second Sea Lord (1883-85)
Battles/wars	Crimean War (1856) Maori War (1860-1861) Anglo-Egyptian War (1882)
Awards	GCB
Relations	Horace Seymour (father)

Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester, GCB (12 April 1821 – 30 March 1895) was a British naval commander. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet between 1874 and 1877 and of the Mediterranean Fleet between 1880 and 1883.

Background

Seymour was the son of Colonel Sir Horace Seymour and a cousin of the 5th Marquess of Hertford. He was a great-grandson of the 1st Marquess of Hertford.

Naval career

Seymour entered the Royal Navy in 1834, and served in the Mediterranean and the Pacific, and was for three years aide-de-camp to his uncle Sir George Seymour, and was promoted to Commander in 1847. He also served in Burma. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Australia Station from 10 March 1860 and 21 July 1862 as Commodore second class with his pennant aboard Pelorus. He commanded the Naval Brigade in New Zealand during the Maori Wars of 1860-61, and was made a Commander of the Bath for this. In 1872, he became a Fourth Naval Lord for two years, and then commander the Channel Fleet. He became a Vice-Admiral on 31 December 1876, and was appointed KCB in June 1877, and was promoted to GCB on 24 May 1881. From 1880 to 1883 he was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and from 1883 to 1885 he was Second Naval Lord. He became an Admiral in May 1882. He was created Baron Alcester (pronounced "Allster"), of Alcester in the County of Warwick, in 1882 for his command of the bombardment of Alexandria and in the subsequent operations on the coast of Egypt. He was also honoured with a parliamentary grant of £25,000, the Freedom of the City of London and a Sword of Honour.

Personal life

Lord Alcester never married. He died in March 1895, aged 73, when his peerage became extinct.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Encyclopædia Britannica Cambridge University Press 

External links

• American University in Cairo, Rare Books and Special Collections Library (6 July 1882). "Alexandria Bombardment of 1882 Photograph Album". http://digitalcollections.aucegypt.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15795coll9. 
  • The Alexandria Bombardment of 1882 Photograph Album digital collection was originally compiled by Italian photographer Luigi Fiorillo. This unique resource documents the British naval attack on 'Urabi Pasha's nationalists, who revolted against Taufik Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, from 1879 to 1882. Fiorillo’s fifty page album records damage to Alexandria's neighborhoods, particularly the harbor and the fortress district. The images trace the development of episode from the arrival of the British fleet to the destruction of the emerging downtown district. Further, the photographs show the artillery and forts used by the resistance. The album also features portraits of the key players in the bombardment, including 'Urabi Pasha, Khedive Taufik, Admiral Seymour, and Sir Wolseley.