Sir Charles Seely, 1st Baronet

Colonel Sir Charles Seely, 1st Baronet KGStJ (11 August 1833 – 16 April 1915) was a British industrialist and politician.

Seely was Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham from 1869 to 1874 and 1880 to 1885, and for Nottingham West from 1885 to 1886, and Liberal Unionist MP for Nottingham West from 1892 to 1895. He was an industrialist and major landowner in the Isle of Wight and in Nottinghamshire. He was also a noted philanthropist. In October 1895 he was the 1st person to be presented with the honorary Freedom of the City of Nottingham, for "Eminent services and noble generosity towards the philanthropic institutions of the City." He was made a baronet on 19 February 1896.

He lived at Langford Hall and then Sherwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire, Brooke House on the Isle of Wight, and No.1 Carlton House Terrace in London. He also built Brook Hill House where J. B. Priestley, the famous author and playwright, later lived from 1948. He was a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, and High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire. He was the Colonel of the 1st Nottinghamshire (Robin Hood) Rifle Volunteers. He was Vice-Chairman of the first Nottinghamshire County Council. He was also a Knight of Grace Order of St John of Jerusalem.

Seely was a member of a family of politicians, industrialists and significant landowners. His father Charles Seely (1803–1887), eldest son Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet, youngest son John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone, and grandson Sir Hugh Seely, 3rd Baronet and 1st Baron Sherwood were all members of parliament. His grandson, David Peter Seely, 4th Baron Mottistone, was the last Governor of the Isle of Wight; he was baptised with Winston Churchill and the then Duke of Cornwall (subsequently King Edward VIII, and then later HRH Duke of Windsor) as his godparents. David Peter Seely, 4th Baron Mottistone's son Peter John Philip Seely, 5th Baron Mottistone (1949–2013) was a godson of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

...
Wikipedia