Bobby Seagull's Biography

Who is Bobby Seagull?

Bobby Seagull's parents came to the UK from Kerala in India.

His father persuaded his mother to give Bobby the surname Seagull from birth because of the book Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

The second of four brothers, Bobby Seagull grew up in the London Borough of Newham in London's East End.

Bobby Seagull studied at St Bonaventure’s Roman Catholic secondary school - a year below Jermain Defoe, before gaining a scholarship to go to Eton for two years in the sixth form.

He started a maths degree at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford before leaving early to gain a 2:1 in maths and economics at Royal Holloway.

He then had a stint as a trader at Lehman Brothers and Nomura before becoming an accountant at PwC.

Bobby Seagull then took a postgraduate teaching course (PGCE) at Hughes Hall but moved to Emmanuel College Cambridge for his Masters in Education, where he became captain of their University Challenge team.

He took them to the semi-finals, where they lost to Wolfson College, captained by his friend Eric Monkman.

Seagull then started a Doctorate in Education (specialising in Maths), whilst teaching maths at a state school.

In August 2017, Bobby Seagull and Eric Monkman were presenters of Radio 4's Monkman and Seagull’s Polymathic Adventure.

In October 2017, they also published a book together, The Monkman and Seagull Quiz Book.

In 2018, BBC Two commissioned a four-part documentary series Monkman and Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain.

Seagull also wrote The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers published in October 2018.

In 2022, Bobby Seagull took part in the BBC Two series Pilgrimage.

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