Julia Lennon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Julia Lennon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 March 1914 Liverpool |
| Died | 15 July 1958 Sefton General Hospital |
| Occupation | Waitress, Housewife |
| Spouse | Alfred 'Freddie' Lennon, Common Law wife of Bobby Dykins |
| Parents | George & Annie (née Millward) Stanley |
| Children | John, Victoria, Julia and Jackie |
Julia Stanley Lennon (12 March 1914 – 15 July 1958) was the mother of John Lennon, who was the singer, songwriter and instrumentalist with The Beatles. Julia was known as 'Judy', and was the fifth of five sisters. John was her first child and was the only child of her marriage to Freddie Lennon. She later had one daughter (who was given up for adoption after pressure from her family) with 'Taffy' Williams, and then had two daughters; Julia and Jackie, with John 'Bobby' Dykins.
Julia was known as being 'high-spirited' and impulsive, but was also musical and had a strong sense of humour. She bought John Lennon his first guitar and encouraged him musically, even though her sister, Mimi Smith, strongly disapproved. She kept in almost daily contact with John, and when he was in his teens he often stayed overnight at her and Bobby Dykins' house.
Julia visited Mimi almost daily (even when John was staying at her house) but shortly after leaving Mimi's house one evening Julia was struck down and killed by a car driven by a drunken off-duty policeman, on 15 July 1958. She was buried in the Allerton Cemetery, in Liverpool.
Contents |
[edit] The Stanley family
According to John Lennon, the Stanley family once owned the whole of Woolton village.[1] Julia's father, George Stanley, was born in the Everton district of Liverpool in 1874.[2] Her mother, Annie Jane Millward, was born in Chester around 1875, to Welsh parents.[3] Annie's mother hated "the devil's English".[4] Annie gave birth to a boy and a girl, who both died shortly after birth, and then had Mary (later known as Mimi), Elizabeth ('Mater'), Anne ('Nanny'), Harriet ('Harrie'), and Julia (nicknamed 'Judy').[5][6]
George retired from sailing and found a job with the Liverpool and Glasgow Tug Salvage Company as an insurance investigator. He moved his family to the Liverpool suburb of Woolton, where they lived in a small terraced house at 9 Newcastle Road in the district of Penny Lane.[7] Lennon would later comment that the 'Stanley girls' were "five, fantastic, strong, beautiful, and intelligent women".[6] Mimi took a matriarchal role in the Stanley house and was always very conservatively dressed. Pete Shotton, Lennon's school friend, later commented that "Mimi had a very strong sense of what was right or wrong".[6] Annie Hane Stanley died in 1945, and Julia had to take care of her father with very little help from Mimi.[8]
Mimi had relatives in Eketahuna, New Zealand. Her maternal aunt, Harriet Millward, had married and moved to New Zealand, and Mimi exchanged letters with her cousins over the years. Lennon arranged for The Beatles' 1964 tour to visit New Zealand, in part because he wanted to give Mimi the gift of a visit with her relatives. She stayed there for five months.[9] Mimi's sister, Harriet Stanley, married her first husband, Ali Hafez, and had a daughter, Leila (born in Egypt in 1937). Leila was very close to John Lennon when they were growing up, and the two later wrote letters to each other.[10]
[edit] Freddie Lennon
Alfred 'Freddie' Lennon, always called 'Alf' by his family, was always quick with a joke or a witty line, but never held a job for very long. He preferred to visit Liverpool's many vaudeville theatres and cinemas, and knew the usherettes by name.[11] It was at the 'Trocadero' club, a converted cinema on Camden Road, Liverpool, that Freddie first saw an auburn-haired girl with a bright smile and high cheekbones-Julia Stanley.[12]
Freddie saw Julia again in Sefton Park, where Freddie had gone with a friend to pick up girls. Freddie, who was dressed in a bowler hat and holding a cigarette holder, saw "this little waif" sitting on a wrought-iron bench. Julia (who was only 14 years old) said that Freddie's hat looked "silly", to which (the 15-year-old) Freddie replied that Julia looked "lovely", and sat down next to her. Julia asked Freddie to take off his hat, so Freddie promptly took it off and threw it straight into the Sefton Park lake.[13] A nephew later said that Julia could also "make a joke out of nothing", by saying that Aunt 'Judy' (Julia) could have "walked out of a burning house with a smile and a joke".[14]
Julia often caught the gaze of men in the street. She was attractive and full-figured, with large brown eyes, although standing only five feet two inches tall in high heels. She was always well-dressed and even went to bed with make-up on so as to look beautiful when she woke up.[13] She frequented Liverpool's dance halls and clubs where she was often asked to dance in Jitterbug competitions with dockers, soldiers, sailors, waiters, and "late-night sharks". She could tell a joke as bawdy as any man, and would often sing the popular songs of the day at any time of day or night.[13] It was said that her voice sounded like Very Lynn's, whilst Freddie specialised in impersonating Satchmo and Al Jolson.[15] Julia played the banjo (as did Freddie) and the piano accordion, although neither pursued music professionally. They spent their days together walking around Liverpool and dreaming of what they would do in the future—like opening a shop, a pub, a cafe, or a club.[15]
On 3 December 1938, eleven years after they had first met, Julia married Freddie after proposing to him.[16] They were married in a Register office (none of Julia's family were there) and Julia wrote 'cinema usherette' on the marriage certificate as her occupation, even though she had never been one.[14] They spent their honeymoon eating at Reece's restaurant in Clayton Square (which is where John Lennon would later celebrate after his marriage to Cynthia Powell) and then went to a cinema.[17][14] Julia walked into 9 Newcastle Road waving the marriage licence and said, "There!—I've married him."[18] This was an act of defiance against her father, who had threatened to disown her if she cohabitated with a lover.[11] On their wedding night Julia stayed at the Stanley's house and Freddie went back to his rooming house. The next day Freddie went back to sea for three months, on a ship headed for the West Indies.[14]
The Stanley family completely ignored Freddie at first, believing him to be of "no use to anyone—certainly not our Julia."[11] Julia's father demanded that Freddie present something concrete to show that he could financially support Julia, but Freddie's only idea was to sign on as a Merchant Navy steward on a ship bound for the Mediterranean. He arrived back in Liverpool after only a few months at sea and moved into the Stanley home in Newcastle Road. He auditioned for local theatre managers as a 'ship's entertainer', but had no success.
Julia found out that she was pregnant in January of 1940.[15] Freddie worked as a merchant seaman during World War II and sent regular pay cheques to Julia, who was living with John at 9 Newcastle Road. The cheques stopped when Freddie went AWOL in 1943.[8]
[edit] John
John Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 in the second-floor ward of the Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in Liverpool, during the course of a German air raid in World War II. Julia's eldest sister, Mimi, phoned the hospital and was told that Julia had given birth to a boy. Mimi made her way to the hospital during the air raid—dodging in and out of doorways to avoid the shrapnel—and running "as fast as my legs could carry me". John was named after his paternal grandfather and Winston Churchill. Freddie Lennon was not present at John's birth, as he was away at sea.[19][20]
After comments about the still-married Julia 'living in sin' with Bobby Dykins, and considerable pressure from Mimi—who twice contacted Liverpool's Social Services to complain about John sleeping in the same bed as Julia and Dykins—Julia reluctantly handed the care of John over to Mimi.[21][22]
In July 1946, Freddie visited Mimi's house at 251 Menlove Avenue and took John to Blackpool for a long holiday—although secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him.[23] Julia and Dykins found out and followed them to Blackpool. Freddie asked Julia to go with them both to New Zealand, but Julia refused. After a heated argument Freddie said the five-year-old John had to choose between Julia or him. John chose Freddie (twice) and then Julia walked away, but in the end John (crying) followed her.[24] Freddie lost contact with the family until Beatlemania, when he and John met again.[25]
Julia took John back to her house and enrolled him in a local school, but after few weeks she handed him back to Mimi.[24] John then lived continuously at 'Mendips', in the smallest bedroom above the front door.[26][27] Julia later bought John his first guitar—after he had pestered her incessantly for weeks—but insisted that it had to be delivered to her house and not to Mimi's.[28] As John had difficulty learning chords, she taught him banjo chords, which were simpler. She also later taught John how to play the piano accordion.[29][30] She also played Elvis Presley's records to John, and would dance around her kitchen with him.[31]
In 1957, when The Quarrymen (with Paul McCartney and George Harrison) played at St. Barnabas Hall, Penny Lane, Julia turned up to watch them. After each song Julia would clap and whistle louder than everyone else, and was seen "swaying and dancing" throughout the whole concert.[32] John frequently visited Julia's house during that period, detailing his anxieties and problems, with Julia giving John encouragement to stay with music over Mimi's objections.[32]
[edit] Victoria
As Freddie was often away at sea, Julia started going out to dance halls. In 1942, she met a Welsh soldier named 'Taffy' Williams who was stationed in the barracks at Mossley Hill.[33] Freddie Lennon blamed himself for this, as he had written letters telling Julia that because there was a war on, she should go out and enjoy herself. After an evening out, Julia would often give the young John a piece of chocolate or shortcrust pastry the next morning for breakfast.[33] She became pregnant by Williams in late 1944, though first claiming that she had been raped by an unknown soldier.[34] Williams refused to live with Julia—who was still married to Freddie—until she gave up John, which Julia refused to do.[35] When Freddie Lennon eventually came home in 1944 he offered to look after Julia, John, and the expected baby, but Julia rejected the idea.[36]
Freddie took John to his brother Sydney's house, in the Liverpool suburb of Maghull, a few months before Julia came to term.[36] Julia gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Elizabeth, in the Elmswood Nursing Home on 19 June 1945[37] Victoria was subsequently given up for adoption to a Norwegian Salvation Army Captain (Peder and Margaret Pedersen) after intense pressure from Julia's family.[36][38] John was not told about Victoria—who was later re-named Ingrid—and supposedly never knew of her existence.[24]
[edit] John 'Bobby' Dykins
Julia met John 'Bobby' Dykins a year before Victoria's birth, when they were both having affairs with other people.[39] Dykins was a good-looking, well-dressed man who was several years older than Julia and worked at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool as a wine steward.[40] Dykins enjoyed luxuries, and had access to rationed goods like alcohol, chocolate, silks and cigarettes, which was what attracted Julia to him.[41] The Stanley children called him "Spiv", because of his pencil-thin moustache, margarine-coated hair, and pork-pie hat, but the young John Lennon called him "Twitchy" because of a physical tic/nervous cough that Dykins had.[41] Julia's family and friends remembered that Dykins also had a fiery temperament, which could result in his being violent when drunk. John remembered a later visit to Mimi's when Julia's face was bleeding after being hit by Dykins.[41]
Julia later moved into a small flat with Dykins, although she never divorced Freddie.[41] Paul McCartney later admitted to being sarcastic to John about Julia living in sin with Dykins while she was still married.[22] (Although Julia never divorced Freddie, she was considered to be the Common Law wife of Dykins). Julia wanted John to live with them both, but he was passed between the Stanley sisters, and often ran away to Mimi's where she would open the door to find John standing there, "his face covered in tears".[41]
Julia was accused by the family of being frivolous and unreliable—she never enjoyed household chores—and was once seen sweeping the kitchen floor with a pair of knickers on her head. Her cooking methods were also haphazard; she would mix things "like a mad scientist", and even put tea "or anything else that came to hand" in a stew.[24] Dykins later managed several bars in Liverpool, which allowed Julia to stay at home and look after their two daughters and John, who often visited and stayed overnight, at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool.[42] John and Paul McCartney would later rehearse in the bathroom of the house where the acoustics "sounded like a recording studio".[31][43] Dykins used to give John weekly pocket money (one shilling) for doing odd jobs, on top of the five shillings that Mimi gave him.[44][45]
[edit] Julia and Jackie
Julia later had two daughters with Dykins: Julia (b. 5 March 1947) and Jacqueline (Jackie) Dykins (b. 26 October 1949)[46][47] When John was 11 years old, he started to visit the Dykins' house and often stayed there overnight.[48] Julia Dykins would give up her bed to him, and share Jackie's bed.[48] Julia remembered that after John had visited them, her mother would play a record called, "'My Son John, To Me You Are So Wonderful', by some old crooner'", and sit and listen to it.[45] (Julia probably meant "My Son John"—sung by popular singer David Whitfield—which was released in 1956).[49]
After Julia's death, the two girls (aged eleven and eight years) were sent to stay in Edinburgh at Aunt Mater's,[50] and were told two months later by Norman Birch (John's uncle) that their mother had died.[47] When she was older, Jackie moved in with Aunt Mimi for a time, when Mimi was living in Poole. Both Julia and Jackie have said that they wished John had "never seen a guitar".[45]
[edit] Death
Julia visited Mimi's house nearly every day, where they would chat over tea and cakes in the morning room or stand in the garden when it was warm.[42] On the evening of 15 July 1958, Nigel Whalley went to visit Lennon and found Julia and Mimi talking by the front gate. Lennon was not there, as he was staying at Julia's house.[51] Whalley accompanied Julia to the bus stop further down Menlove Avenue, with Julia cracking jokes along the way. At about 9:30, Whalley left her and she crossed the road to the central reservation between the two traffic lanes, which was lined with hedges that covered disused tram tracks.[51] Five seconds later, Whalley heard "a loud thud", and turned to see Julia's body "flying through the air"—Julia's body landed about 100 feet from where she had been hit. He ran back to get Mimi and they waited for the ambulance, with Mimi crying hysterically.[52]
Julia was struck by a car driven by a drunken off-duty police officer, called Eric Clague, who was a learner-driver.[53][54][55] When taken to court, the officer was acquitted of all charges and given a short suspension from duty. Julia was buried in the Allerton Cemetery, in Liverpool.[50] Her gravesite is unmarked, and over the years its location was forgotten until it was recently identified by her daughter Jackie.
John refused to talk to Whalley for months afterwards, and Whalley felt that John thought he (Whalley) was somehow responsible.[56] Julia's death deeply traumatised the teenaged Lennon, and heavily contributed to the emotional difficulties that haunted for much of his life. Her memory and the pain of her death inspired songs such as "Julia", "Mother", and "My Mummy's Dead". Lennon's first son Julian was named after her.[54]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Miles 1998. p44.
- ^ 1881 Census of England, Lancashire, Everton, District 71, page 10. Retrieved: 10 February 2007
- ^ 1881 Census of England, Lancashire, Liverpool, St. Thomas, District 7, page 40. Retrieved: 10 February 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p18.
- ^ Stanley Parkes’ recollections of his family Retrieved: 16 January 2007
- ^ a b c Spitz - p19.
- ^ 9 Newcastle Road - Lennon was supposedly conceived here on the kitchen floor Retrieved: 11 January 2007
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. p25.
- ^ Mimi’s visit to New Zealand Retrieved: 15 January 2007
- ^ Leila – Lennon’s cousin Retrieved: 15 January 2007
- ^ a b c Spitz 2005. p21.
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp21-22.
- ^ a b c Spitz 2005. p22.
- ^ a b c d Cynthia Lennon– “John” 2006. p53.
- ^ a b c Spitz 2005. p23.
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp20-21.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p349.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p20
- ^ The Liverpool Lennons Retrieved: 21 January 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p24.
- ^ Cynthia Lennon - “John” 2006. p55.
- ^ a b Miles 1998. p32
- ^ Cynthia Lennon - “John” 2006. p56.
- ^ a b c d Spitz 2005. p29.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p30.
- ^ Miles 1998. p43.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p31.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p45.
- ^ Cynthia Lennon - “John” 2006. p40.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p48.
- ^ a b Cynthia Lennon - “John” 2006. p41.
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. p144.
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. pp25-26.
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp26-27.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p26.
- ^ a b c Spitz 2005. p27.
- ^ Cynthia Lennon - “John” 2006. p54.
- ^ Peder and Margaret Pedersen - bbc.co.uk 24 August 1998 Retrieved: 26 January 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp27-28.
- ^ The Adelphi Hotel Retrieved: 21 January 2007
- ^ a b c d e Spitz 2005. p28.
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. p145.
- ^ 1 Blomfield Road Retrieved: 21 January 2007
- ^ Miles 1998. p48.
- ^ a b c Family Reflections - Lennon.net Retrieved: 23 January 2007
- ^ Jacqueline Gertrude Dykins - Liverpool Lennons Retrieved: 21 January 2007
- ^ a b Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p61.
- ^ a b Cynthia Lennon– “John” 2006. p57.
- ^ ‘My Son John’ lyrics—sung by David Whitfield – 1956 Retrieved: 29 January 2007
- ^ a b Cynthia Lennon– “John” 2006. p60.
- ^ a b Spitz 2005. pp145-146.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p146.
- ^ Mersey Beat - Cynthia Retrieved: 30 February 2007
- ^ a b Miles 1998. p31.
- ^ Cynthia Lennon - “John” 2006. p59.
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp147-148.
[edit] References
- Lennon, Cynthia (2006). John. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0340898283.
- Miles, Barry (1998). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
- Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company (New York). ISBN 1845131606.
[edit] External links:
- The Liverpool Lennons
- Lennon family tree - Lennon.net
- Leila Harvey (nee Hafez) – Lennon’s cousin
- ‘My Son John’ lyrics—sung by David Whitfield—1956
- Stanley Parkes’ recollections of his family
- 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool
