4 /5 Deepa P: It was an interesting walk finding this mausoleum. Spotted some pretty bluebells on the way. The mausoleum itself has a mixture of styles and plays to Sir Henry Samuelson’s obvious love of classical antiquities. On the architrave are inscriptions in Latin, Greek, and English.
Built in 1919 and designed by Rowland Plumbe, it was commissioned by Sir Henry Samuelson for his father Sir Bernhard Samuelson (1820 – 1905), an agricultural machinery manufacturer, Fellow of the Royal Society and Liberal member of Parliament; his wife Caroline (1821 – 1886) and their daughter Florence (1857 – 1881). All three were originally interred in Torquay Cemetery, a place Sir Bernhard was very fond of, having stayed in Churston regularly and moored his steam yacht ‘Brilliant’.
His wish to be buried in Torquay with his wife and daughter was reflected in the obituary written by his eldest daughter Caroline for the Banbury Guardian:
‘And now he comes, who dearly loved them both,
Wearied with years and honours, nobly borne;
He comes to lie beside them, nothing loth
To rest and sleep beneath the smiling morn.’
