My great grandfather, Robert Lendrem, was the youngest son of George Robert Lendrem.
Born in Barnard Castle on 7th July 1858 and baptised August 1st at the chapel in Barnard Castle.
He was raised on Bridgegate Street and by the age of 13 was working as a carpet weaver in the mill at the bottom of Bridgegate. He pretty much disappears for ten years before pitching up in Barnard Castle where he marries my great grandmother Mary Jane on August 15th at the parish church.
In 1890 Robert Lendrem is described as a man familiar with the river at an inquest following a gruesome search for bodies following a drowning in the Gentlemen’s Hole at Barnard Castle. That same year, his first son, Robert, is born.
The following year, 28th October 1891, my grandfather William Lendrem is born.
Robert and Mary Jane may be struggling. Robert is working as a general labourer and the family live in the notoriously bad Peel’s Yard off Bridgegate. Things get worse when the following year, 1892, their eldest son dies and Robert’s father is drowned in the River Wear at Durham while spending Christmas with family in Durham.
Nevertheless, Mary Jane continued to produce children and her first daughter, Jane, was born in 1893. I remember visiting my great aunt ‘Auntie’ Jane in Barnard Castle in the 1960s.
No doubt, seeking work, the family move to Gateshead in 1899 where Robert worked as a general labourer in the docks in Newcastle. The family lived in a notorious slum on Bridge Street running down to the bridge over the Tyne. Their third son, Wilfred was born that same year but dies soon after in 1900. Mary Jane gave birth to her last child in 1903 but baby Charlotte died that same year too.
Robert may have spent a short time in London in 1902 but he is back in Gateshead by 1910 where he dies aged 52 years.
Following Robert’s death, Mary Jane moved back to Barnard Castle with her daughter Jane.
In Barnard Castle, Jane meets Robert Hall. Robert was the son of a coachman and worked as a carter in Bridgegate. The two married.
Mary Jane lived with Jane and ‘Uncle Bob’ until her death in 1950.
‘Uncle Bob’ was a larger than life figure well known for his knowledge of the river Tees and his pursuit of angling. I remember visiting them in Barnard Castle in the 1960s.
‘Auntie Jane’ and ‘Uncle Bob’ died in 1966.
He left his fishing gear to myself and my brother.
I can still smell the leather pouches and old pipe tobacco tins full of fishing flies.
