Hugh Seely, 1st Baron Sherwood

British Liberal politician

Hugh Michael Seely, 1st Baron Sherwood (2 October 1898 – 1 April 1970), known as Sir Hugh Seely, 3rd Baronet of Sherwood Lodge, Nottinghamshire, from 1926 to 1941, was a British Liberal politician.

Seely was born on 2 October 1898 into a family of politicians, industrialists and significant landowners. His great grandfather Charles Seely, grandfather Sir Charles Seely, 1st Baronet, father Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet, and uncle John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone were all Members of Parliament. His mother, Hilda Lucy Grant, was the daughter of Richard Tassell Anthony Grant and the granddaughter of inventor Sir Thomas Tassell Grant. His brother Victor's son was Sir Nigel Edward Seely. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for East Norfolk from 1923 to 1924, High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire for 1925 and MP for Berwick upon Tweed from 1935 to 1941. He was the Joint Under Secretary of State for Air during a large part of the Second World War (1941–45). In 1946 he acquired and was Chairman of the famous gunmaker James Purdey and Sons. He was created Baron Sherwood, of Calverton in the County of Nottingham on 14 August 1941.

On 23 March 1942, he married Hon. Molly Patricia (née Berry) Chetwode, daughter of William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, who owned The Daily Telegraph newspaper. She was the widow of Roger Charles George Chetwode (a son of Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode), with whom she had two sons. The marriage was short lived, however, as the couple divorced in 1948. She later married Sir Richard Cotterell, 5th Baronet in 1958. Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U. K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 749. Lord Sherwood remarried to Catherine ( Thornton) Ranger (widow of John Osborne Ranger) on 16 March 1970, shortly before his death on 1 April 1970. As he had no children, the barony became extinct upon his death. His brother Victor Seely inherited the baronetcy.