Seen in town, erudite proprietor (5)
I believe the answer is:
owner
'proprietor' is the definition.
(I know that proprietor can be written as owner)
'seen in town erudite' is the wordplay.
'seen in' indicates a hidden word.
'OWNER' is hidden within 'town erudite'.
(Other definitions for owner that I've seen before include "One who possesses" , "landlord" , "The person in legal possession" , "The one in lawful possession" , "Title holder?" .)