MARK OF JOHN SAMUEL HUNT, LONDON, 1859

Michael Seymour was the third son of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet (1768-1834). He entered the Royal Navy in 1813, making lieutenant in 1822, commander in 1824 and captain in 1826. On 19 February 1856 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the East Indies and China Station. On HMS Calcutta, he conducted operations arising from the attack on the British coaster Arrow. He went on to command the Battle of the Bogue in November 1856, helped destroy the Chinese fleet in the Battle of Fatshan Creek in June 1857, captured Canton in December, and in 1858 he captured the forts on the Baihe (Hai River), compelling the Chinese government to consent to the Treaty of Tientsin. He was made GCB in 1859.
This tray commemorates his contribution in the Arrow War in China and was given to him by the merchants of Hong Kong who subscribed 2000 guineas for him to have various pieces of silver made by the London firm Hunt and Roskell.