Robert Dingley (baptised 12 September 1710 – 1781) was an English merchant and banker, known as a philanthropist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1747.[1]
The son of Robert and Susanna,[2] he and his younger brother Charles (1711-1769) were significant figures in Anglo-Russian trade in the middle of the 18th century.[3] He joined the Society of Dilettanti in 1736.[4]
Associated with the London Foundling Hospital as an inspector, Dingley pushed to found the Magdalen Hospital in Whitechapel that was founded in 1758.[1] It came into being after a campaign run in the Literary Magazine 1756–8, in which Dingley was an ally of William Dodd, John Fielding and Saunders Welch, following Dingley's initial suggestion in 1750 to Jonas Hanway.[5]
Dingley was a collector of coins, drawings and engraved gems. He was also an architect who designed ornamental buildings, in particular for West Wycombe Park.[6]