John Lennon... The early years

John Lennon has to be my favourite 'Beatle'! He was born on the evening of October 9th, 1940, and was named John Winston Lennon (his middle name a tribute to Britain's wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill) at the Oxford street Maternity Hospital. His mother, Julia Stanley had married Alfred Lennon two years earlier. Due to Alfred Lennon going to sea as a ship's steward the day 

after their wedding (heading for the West Indies), when Julia discovered that she was pregnant in the Spring of 1940, she could not locate him to tell him her news. However when John was only a year old, Julia decided that it would be beneficial if he were to be cared for by her sister, Mary Elizabeth Stanley Smith. It was then he moved into Mendips, his new home with aunt "Mimi" and Uncle George at 251 Menlove Avenue in the Woolton section of Liverpool. He was not a typical child, he cared little for toys and games. His mind was always concentrating on drawing, writing poems and reading. His aunt and uncle  encouraging him to develop his interest in reading, by providing him with many stories and books.  In  1945, John had started his school life at Dovedale Primary. His vocabulary , writing and talent for art impressed his teacher, but even at this early age he stood out, easily distracted and ofetn playing the 'class clown'. A classmate once recalled " Whatever he did, he was going to be unusual, if there was anything out of the ordinary going on at school, it was centered on him". By the time John entered High school at Quarry Bank Grammar in September 1952, it was clear that he was not going to flourish in the school system. He had little respect for the teachers and absolutely no use for the sttrict rules. In 1953 his teacher once said "When he can learn to control himself, he will make some progress all around". By 1955 he had become simply; "Hopeless". However away from school it was a different story. In the Summer of 1955, Julie Lennon reentered her son's life and began seeing him on a more regular basis. As their relationship evolved, they became more like brother and sister than mother and son. Julia had a carefree attitude that contrasted greatly with Aunt Mimi's stern demeanor. Julia enjoyed dancing and had a wicked sense of humour, a trait that would become a hallmark of John's  personality. She also loved music!  and began giving John lessons on a mother of pearl banjo that had belonged to her  grandfather. The first song Julia taught him was Buddy Holly's "That'll be the day. She would sit there teaching him with endless patience until he had managed to work out all of the chords. She was a perfectionist. John's two other inspirational figures surrounding his life at this time were Lonnie Donegan, the king of skiffle music, and Elvis. John became determined to get his own guitar but neither his mother or Aunt would buy him one. Finally, he ordered one himself from an ad he had seen in the Daily Mail . It cost him £5, and a label on the inside read, "Guaranteed not to split". This was his first guitar. In March 1957 John and his best friend, Pete Shotton, decided to form their own band, who teamed up with classmates and called themselves 'The Black Jacks' and began rehearsing. At John's urging, the group changed thier name to 'The Quarry Men' to performed songs; ''Rock island lane'  'Love is strange' and 'Freight train'  On July 6th, The quarry men performed at a garden fete at St. Peter's church in Woolton. Ivan Vaughan, a friend of John's whod played in the group briefly, brought along another friend (rock and roll devotee) 15 year old, Paul McCartney. Backstage, John invited him to join the group, and the next day he said yes. That October, John began taking classes at Liverpool College of Art, And opposite Paul McCartney was studying  at the Liverpool institute. During lunch they would join together and play songs in empty classrooms, joined along by Paul's other friend George Harrison (who had also joined the Quarry men by the next February). Rock and Roll had became John's passion and the Quarry men, were his obsession. But on July 15th 1958, John's world was turned upside down; while waiting for a bus, his mother was run over by a car driven by an off-duty police officer. She died instantly. Later John said "It was the worst thing that ever happened to me". It  made him very bitter. John wasn't faring much better at art school than he had at Quarry bank, But he did meet fellow student, Stuart  Sutcliffe there. They both formed a deep bond and eventually John moved into Stuart's flat on Gambier Terrace, near the college. Later at a Christmas dance in 1958, a student from his lettering class (Cynthia Powell)  became attracted to him and they appeared inseparable. In August 1962 they were married, and on April 8th 1963, Cynthia gave birth to a son, Julian. (Inspiration for the song, 'Hey Jude', originally 'Hey Jules').