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, external that would bear his name, establishing one of the world’s most prestigious sporting competitions.