OBITUARY NOTICE— ROBERT GEORGE BOLAM 151 



apprenticeship with the late Mr John Bourne of Newcastle, 

 an eminent civil engineer of his day, and while in his office 

 assisted in the survey of a considerable portion of the land 

 taken for railways in Northumberland and the adjoining 

 counties. Several of his old field-books and plans of these 

 early days, still in exisfence, testify to that great accuracy 

 and attention to detail, which to the end was so characteristic 

 of him; while the sketches, with which they are occasionally 

 interspersed, prove him to have been more than ordinarily 

 proficient with the pencil. 



After he left Newcastle Mr Bolam was for some years 

 with the late Mr Lowrey. at Barmoor, until at that gentle- 

 man's decease, in 1865, he succeeded to his business as a 

 land agent, and, up to the time of his death, few men 

 have been better known or more highly esteemed in that 

 capacity than he was. His intimate knowledge of all subjects 

 affecting the landed interest made his advice on such matters 

 much sought after, while the reliance placed in his integrity 

 and judgment was frequently sliown by both landlord and 

 tenant applying to him to settle knotty points between them. 

 But while his rare aptitude for business and his methodical 

 habits enabled him to get through an enormous amount 

 of work, he never grasped at business, and many persons 

 have reason to remember with gratitude professional services 

 rendered by him gratuitously. With him work was always 

 regarded less as a means of making money than in the light 

 of a duty, which he owed it to himself as well as to his 

 clients to perform to the best of his ability, and he sought 

 no higher reward than the approval of his own conscience. 



As a sportsman Mr Bolam belonged to the old school, and 

 when time allowed no one could enjoy a country life more 

 than he did, or enter more thoroughly into its pursuits. A 

 good shot with both gun and rifle, he could always be relied 

 upon to give a satisfactory account of himself either in the 

 field or by the covert side, and with the rod he was a past 

 master, especially devoted to fly fishing. He was also an 

 accurate observer, and for many years kept regular records 

 of the arrival and departure of our migratory birds, the 

 highest and lowest temperatures, etc. He also took the 

 keenest interest in all antiquarian matters, and had formed 



