A BRONZE statue of Samuel Ryder could be put up in front of St Albans Town Hall if a bid for planning permission is successful.

The Samuel Ryder Foundation has submitted a planning application for a statue of the former Mayor of St Albans and founder of golf’s Ryder Cup in front of the Town Hall.

And now the foundation is calling on the public to support the application for what they see as being a tourist attraction for the city to go alongside the Samuel Ryder Trail which already exists.

Samuel Ryder was a seed merchant who was responsible for selling one penny packets of seeds through the post, at first from his St Albans home and then from the Ryder Seed Hall in Holywell Hill which is now Café Rouge.

He introduced one of the earliest sick pay schemes for his employees as well as supporting many good causes

He was Mayor of St Albans in 1905 and a councillor for 13 years but he is most remembered today for his donation of golf’s Ryder Cup which was first contested between the USA and Great Britain in 1927.

Played biannually, now between the USA and Europe, it is still one of golf’s major trophies, competed for by top players and much coveted by both teams.

Samuel Ryder is buried in Hatfield Road Cemetery and now has a school named after him – the Samuel Ryder Academy which was formerly Francis Bacon School in Drakes Drive, St Albans.

The foundation is proposing to site the statue at the northern end of the Town Hall Square and see its establishment as a way of raising awareness of an eminent Albanian which could lead to a number of other memorials being erected to worthy citizens of the city.

Anyone wishing to support the application should email planningapplications@stalbans.gov.uk including the application number 5/2012/3231 by February 15.