Charles Seely, MP,  was born in Lincoln. His parents were Charles Seely (1768–1809) and Ann Wilkinson of Lincoln. He married Mary Hilton in 1831.

Hosting Garibaldi

In 1864, Seely was the Deputy Lieutenant for Lincolnshire, when he played host to the Italian revolutionary hero Giuseppe Garibaldi, when Garibaldi visited 26 Prince's Gate Hyde Park, his house in London and Seely's estate at Brook House on the Isle of Wight. Garibaldi stayed at Brook House from April 3-11th, during which time he was also joined by Giuseppe Mazzini, the Italian writer and politician whose efforts helped bring about the modern Italian state. During this time Garibaldi raised funds for his Italian campaigns. On 11 April Garibaldi left Brook House with Seely and travelled from Southampton to London, where he was greeted by crowds estimated at half a million people, according to The Illustrated London News. Garibaldi stayed several days at Seely's house in London where a reception was hosted for him on April 19. The next day he travelled to the Guildhall where he was given the Freedom of the City of London.

Wealth

Seely made his fortune in the Industrial Revolution through a contract with the navy for pig iron, which was used in the 19th Century as ballast for ships. He was chairman of the House of Commons Committee on Admiralty Reform in 1868. In a Vanity Fair Spy cartoon, 1878, on notable people of the day, he was noted as a "Statesman". He later diversified his fortune into acquiring coal mines and property - in 1883 he owned 9,264 acres of the Isle of Wight, 2,929 of Worcester and 394 of Bedfordshire. By 1900 the family estates in the Isle of Wight comprised almost the entire west side of the Island. In the 1870s he commissioned Myles Birket Foster, the famous English Victorian artist, to paint 50 watercolours of Venice.

Descendants

Four other members of his family became Members of Parliament and played prominent roles in politics during the 19th and 20th centuries:His grandson, the Secretary of State for War (1912–1914), Major General John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone; his eldest son Sir Charles Seely, 1st Baronet; his grandson Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet; his great-grandson the Joint Under-Secretary of State for Air (1941–1945) Sir Hugh Seely 3rd Baronet, and 1st Baron Sherwood.

Additionally, his great-grandson David Peter Seely, 4th Baron Mottistone, who was baptised with Winston Churchill and the then Prince of Wales (subsequently Edward VIII) as his godparents, was the Deputy Lieutenant for Lincolnshire, Lord Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight and its last Governor. His youngest daughter Jane Anne Seely married (1882) Henry George Gore-Browne who received the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Henry was a great-great grandson of the 1st Earl of Altamont MP, whose heir is the Marquess of Sligo.