Robert Benton Seeley

Robert Benton Seeley (1798-31 May 1886) was an author, publisher and local politician.

Born in the City of London, he was the son of Leonard Benton Seeley, a bookseller and publisher specialising in bibles and ecclesiastical books at Ave Maria Lane near St Paul's Cathedral.

Robert took over the family business and moved it to Fleet Street. He published numerous religious works including the Christian Guardian. He also wrote a number of books including Essays on the Church by a Layman in 1834.

Active in Tory politics, Seeley was in favour of legislation improving the conditions of working people promoted by the Earl of Shaftesbury. He was involved in the foundation of the Church Pastoral Aid Society in 1837 and the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes in 1844. In 1855 he became a member of the Metropolitan Board of Works, representing Holborn District.

In 1857 he retired from both his publishing business and the Metropolitan Board. in 1860 he wrote a biography of Edward I, The Greatest of All the Plantagenets.

He married Mary Anne Jackson in about 1830. Among their children were Leonard Benton Seeley (1831–1893),a barrister and professor of modern history at Bedford College and Sir John Robert Seeley (1834–1895), historian.