France
Bentham discovered upon his return to England that his post as Inspector General had been abolished while he was absent, and indeed came to believe that he had been sent to Russia solely to get him out of the way while the post was abolished. In 1814, he and his family relocated to the south of France, where they lived until 1826.
The Bentham family travelled a great deal in France before settling in 1820 at the Château de Restinclières, in the région of Languedoc-Roussillon. Their new house was large, with extensive grounds, and Bentham planned to cultivate the land for profit, with his son George managing most of the operation. Bentham also imported agricultural machinery as yet unknown in France, and installed a complex system of irrigation on his land. They were reasonably prosperous, but eventually returned to England in 1826, one factor in their decision being a threatened lawsuit from neighbouring farmers, who claimed that Bentham's irrigation system was diverting the local water supply.
In England, Bentham spent most of his time writing about naval matters, and conducting experiments on hull shapes. His son George Bentham, (born 1800), became a noted botanist.
Read more about this topic: Samuel Bentham, Career
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