Not all Lendrems go on to become pillars of the community.
Robert Lendrem is a case in point. Born on the 7th July 1858 in Barnard Castle, he was one of nine children born to Jane Wigham of Barnard Castle and George Robert Lendrem of Ashfield, Cavan. Robert gets off to a reasonably good start, excelling in Drawing and winning prizes at the National School in Barnard Castle. Following school he joins the Army and is posted to India. By 1886 he is back in Barnard Castle where he meets and marries Mary Jane Warwick in 1888. He is employed as a general labourer and soon makes the first of numerous appearances in court for affray, brawling and being drunk and disorderly. Over the next few years, he quickly racks up further charges and is caught poaching rabbits and salmon on multiple occasions. Unable to afford the fines, his poor wife appears before the court begging for leniency. Robert leaves Barnard Castle seeking work in Gateshead. They live in the notorious slum - now cleared - of Bridge Street running down to the dock. Of their five children, three die in infancy. On a trip back to Barnard Castle, Robert is arrested again for being drunk and disorderly and assaulting a publican's wife. There are no details but he died in 1910. His wife moved straight back to Barnard Castle with their two children, Jane and William, who went on to have long and productive lives without him.
Bridge Street, Gateshead
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