Sir Charles Seely, 1st Baronet

He married Emily Evans (died 1894), sister of the businessman and politician Sir Francis Evans, 1st Baronet, on 11 August 1857.

Glass jug with monogram for Charles Seely and his wife Emily Evans.

He is a great-grandfather, via her mother Leila Emily Seely,[4] of Rachel Douglas-Home, 27th Baroness Dacre a descendant of Charles II of England, who married William Douglas-Home younger brother of the Prime Minister and 14th Earl Sir Alec Douglas-Home. He is the great-great grandfather of George William Beaumont Howard, the current and 13th Earl of Carlisle whose principal family seat was Castle Howard. His son Lt-Col Frank Evelyn Seely married Leila Eliza Russell,[5] great-granddaughter of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford and granddaughter of Lord Charles James Fox Russell whose half brother was Prime Minister John Russell, 1st Earl Russell. Their son Major Frank James Wriothesley Seely (1901–1956), married (1925) Vera Lilian Margaret Birkin (1903–1970), a granddaughter of Sir Thomas Isaac Birkin, 1st Bt. (1831–1922), whose great granddaughter is Jane Birkin (b. 1946), actress, partner of Serge Gainsbourg in the 1970s and namesake of the Hermès Birkin bag.[6][7][8] The Michael Seely Memorial Stakes held at York was named in honour of their eldest son, the racing correspondent.

He is also the great-great-grandfather of Bob Seely, the current Member of Parliament for the Isle of Wight.

Seely is a third great-grandfather, via his youngest son John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone, of theatre director Sophie Hunter[9] who married actor Benedict Cumberbatch on 14 February 2015, at the 12th century St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Mottistone on the Isle of Wight followed by a reception at Mottistone Manor.

When he died in 1915 he left estate of £1,052,070 (equivalent to £641 million (2014), (or £75 million (2015) obtained by multiplying £1,052,070.00 by the percentage increase in the RPI since 1915), as measured by share of UK GDP, UK CPI), which was according to The Times the 2nd largest estate that year (by comparison the estate of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild was the largest valued at £2,500,000) and made him one of the wealthiest men in Britain.

• Burke's Peerage and Baronetage 107th Edition Volume III[10] *Seely Baronets
• Lundy, Darryl. "p. 4665 § 46650 database". The Peerage.
• Lundy, Darryl. "p. 1152 § 11519 database". The Peerage.
• Lundy, Darryl. "p. 3716 § 37155 database". The Peerage.
• Seely family crest[11]
• The Great Houses of Nottinghamshire, Sherwood Lodge (1881)
• Seely estates listed at UK National Registry of Archives
• University of London and History of Parliament Trust[12] &[13]
• Link to St Pauls Church built by Sir Charles Seely Bt in 1896[14] and monument to his wife Emily Seely designed by Sir Thomas Brock.
• Art collection included Cicero's Villa by J. M. W. Turner, see:[15] and paintings of Venice by Myles Birket Foster commissioned by his father-[16]
• Wight Life April/May 1975 article on The Seely Family and their Island Homes[17]
• John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone, Dictionary of National Biography, 1941–1950
• The Times Obituary 1915, Wills and Bequests.
• Economic power measured by wealth as compared to the size of the economy (List of most wealthy historical figures), which is measured by share of GDP. Data from Measuring Worth:
• Occupants of No.1 Carlton House Terrace

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Charles Seely