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Blue plaque honours founder of Ryder Cup

Matthew LockwoodBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Getty Images A black-and-white photograph shows a trophy presentation ceremony, connected to the early years of the Ryder Cup. In the foreground, Samuel Ryder and George Duncan stand in long overcoats facing the camera while jointly holding a large trophy between them.Getty Images
Samuel Ryder (left), presenting the Ryder Cup to George Duncan, captain of the British team that defeated the US in July 1929

A blue plaque honouring the founder of the Ryder Cup has been unveiled at a building he commissioned.

Relatives of Samuel Ryder, who is buried in St Albans in Hertfordshire and was a former mayor of the city, attended the ceremony at his former Seed and Exhibition Hall in Holywell Hill on Tuesday.

Ryder built his fortune through a pioneering mail-order seed business, selling penny seed packets that made gardening accessible to working people.

He later enlisted the architect Percival Blow to design the hall in 1931, which "still stands as a testament to his entrepreneurial vision", said Professor Tim Boatswain, chair of Blue Plaques St Albans.

Following an informal golf tournament between Great Britain and the US the year before, Ryder donated the prize trophy in 1927 that would bear his name, establishing one of the world's most prestigious sporting competitions.

Snjezana Boatswain The image shows a round blue commemorative plaque mounted on a light-coloured wall. The plaque honours Samuel Ryder, a British businessman and civic leader best known for founding the Ryder Cup golf tournament. It indicates that the building where the plaque is installed was once his exhibition hall.Snjezana Boatswain
A trail of plaques across the city celebrate figures of local and national significance

Plans for a £150,000 statue celebrating his life were agreed by the council in 2011.

However, it has yet to be erected in the city.

Author Peter Fry, who has written about Ryder, said: "It is a privilege to see Samuel Ryder's contribution to both St Albans and the world of golf permanently recognised in this way.

"He was a man of extraordinary energy, generosity and quiet determination.

"This plaque will help future generations understand just how much they owe to a seedsman from Holywell Hill."

This latest plaque joins a trail across the city celebrating figures of local and national significance.

Tim Boatswain A blue plaque honouring Samuel Ryder is attached to a white building that is now a restaurant in St Albans. The former Seed and Exhibition Hall is an Art Deco style building, with lots of windows, and has a restaurant sign above its black doors.Tim Boatswain
The former Seed and Exhibition Hall in St Albans, commissioned by Samuel Ryder, is now a restaurant

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