George Robert Lendrem was born in Barnard Castle in 1893 and named after his grandfather George Robert Lendrem (1822-1892). George's father William Lendrem was a carpet weaver working in Barnard Castle. William met and married Sarah Elizabeth Proctor in Barnard Castle. They had six children - Jane, John William, Eva, Maud, James, George Robert, and Mary Ann. His father William died when Robert was just 5 years old.
The family moved from Barnard Castle to Hallgarth Street in Durham. Sarah was a baker and set up a confectionery shop in Hallgarth Street. She remarried and moved just outside Durham with her husband John William Wadsworth to West Terrace opposite the Ushaw Moor colliery. George Robert started working in the mine where he became a coal hewer - one of the more physically demanding jobs.
In 1916 he enlisted in Sunderland with the 20th Hussars and became Private George Robert Lendrem (Service Number 10817). He appears to have received his training at Catterick before posting to France for the Somme offensive. George Robert was killed in action on the 25th September 1916 at the start of the Thiepval battle. His body was never found. He is remembered at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.
His mother collected his effects 2nd July, 1919. His back pay of £8 11s 6d was shared equally between his mother, brother James, and sisters - Jane, Eva, Maud and Mary Ann. His elder brother John William Lendrem is conspicuous by his absence from the list. By this time John William had emigrated to Chicago in the US and was to enlist in the US army that same year.
After the war, Ushaw Colliery commissioned a memorial to those miners lost in the war. The memorial was unveiled at the Memorial Hall in Esh. When the mine closed much of Esh was demolished including West Terrace and the Memorial Hall. The memorial stone was moved to St Luke's church in Ushaw Moor.
 |
| List of Effects |
 |
| Enlisting |
 |
| St Lukes, Ushaw Moor |
 |
| Census return for Hallgarth Street, Durham |
 |
| 28 Hallgarth Street, Durham |
 |
| Memorial at St Lukes, Eshaw Moor |
 |
| St Lukes Memorial Stone |
