I am descended from Thomas Lendrum, who was christened in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire in 1735 (the son of Alexander Lendrum) and died in Fyvie in 1809.
As a result of research by several members of the family, we believe that we have now traced most of the descendant lines. It appears that most, if not all, of the living descendants are located in Great Britain or Australia.
We have not established any definitive link with the Ellon branch of the family that was extensively researched by the late Professor Alan C. Lendrum, although it seems certain that the two branches are closely related. Nor do we have definitive information to establish a link with the Landrum family in North America or the Lendrum families in Northern Ireland and New Zealand.
I have found no information about Alexander, the progenitor of the line, beyond the facts that he lived at Fetterletter in the parish of Fyvie and was the parent of Alexander, Isabel and Thomas. Neither the Aberdeenshire Poll Book of 1696 (‘The List of Poleable persons in the Shire of Aberdeen’), ‘which purports to list every person over the age of sixteen not a beggar’ in September 1695, nor the parish register for Fyvie, which records baptisms and marriages back to 1685 (with some gaps), show any Lendrums living in the parish of Fyvie prior to Alexander. This suggests that Alexander moved to the parish some time before his first known child was born in 1731.
This is contrary to the conjecture of Joel Shedd in his book, ‘The Landrum Family of Fayette County, Georgia’ (Washington D.C., Moore & Moore, Inc., 1972 at page 56) that the Landrum family of the United States might be descended from the Lendrums of Fyvie since the Landrums are said to have arrived in North America in the 1680s. I have included further commentary on this book in the 'Related Files' below.
There are several parishes where Lendrums are recorded before 1731 and from which Alexander could have moved. The Aberdeenshire Poll Book records a total of fourteen Lendrums, living in Monquhitter, Cruden and Ellon. Parish registers record Lendrums living in the following parishes (with the date of first occurrence of the name Lendrum in brackets): Ellon (1644), Methlick (1683), Monquhitter (1685), Peterhead (1693), Belhelvie (1700), Rayne (1704), Logie Buchan (1706), Cruden (1709), Foveran (1719), Tarves (1721) and Slains (1722).
Subtracting between 18 and 40 years from the baptism date for Alexander’s first known child in 1731 indicates that he was probably born between 1691 and 1713. The surviving parish registers for north east Scotland record the baptism of four children named Alexander Lendrum between these dates as follows:
Alexander, son of James Lendrum, baptised 1693, Monquhitter
Alexander, son of Gilbert Lendrum, baptised 1705, Ellon
Alexander, son of William Lendrum, baptised 1709, Cruden
Alexander, son of Alexander Lendrum of Balnagoak, baptised 1712, Methlick.
Any (or none) of these might be the progenitor of the Fyvie branch of the Lendrum family. Based solely on proximity to Fyvie, the entries for Monquhitter and Methlick are perhaps more likely to be those for the progenitor of the Fyvie Lendrums.
I would be most interested to hear from anyone who is researching the Scottish Lendrums or related lines. The attached genealogy report is intended as a reference outline only. I have made efforts to verify from original sources every fact that is included. If anyone is interested in details of the sources, I will be pleased to provide them.
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