Charles Seely 1803-1887
Born in 1803 of respectable but modest Lincolnshire millers, by the time of his death, in 1887, Charles Seely was one of the largest landowners in the country. He owned Sherwood Lodge with coalfields in Nottinghamshire, 1 Carlton House Terrace in London and a substantial part of the West Wight. It was said that he could walk from Brook to Newport, Freshwater or Yarmouth without stepping off his own land. Charles suffered from TB when young and was sent to convalesce with an aunt on the Isle of Wight.
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.
The extensive alterations at Brooke House, carried out by Mr James Denham, the well-known builder and contractor, of Freshwater, from the designs of Mr W T Stratton, architect, of Newport, are now completed...
As a Liberal MP. Charles Seely supported the unification of Italy and invited General Giuseppe Garibaldi to stay at Brooke House in 1864 when it was thought he was in danger of being mobbed by adoring crowds in London.