Alfred Lennon: biography, interesting facts

Alfred Lennon is the father of the famous English singer and leader of the Liverpool Four. It was he, in part, that instilled John's love of music. Alfred Lennon himself was also a singer, played in a band and recorded several compositions. However, he could not realize himself as a musician. The article will present his brief biography.

Alfred Lennon: family

James and Jane - the grandfather and grandmother of the hero of this article - came to Liverpool from Down (Northern Ireland) in the 40s of the nineteenth century. In 1849 they were married. One of their seven children named John ("Jack") and became the father of Alfred. In 1888, he married Margaret Cowley. The girl gave birth to two children - Michael and Mary Elizabeth, but she died during childbirth. After the death of his wife, John met Mary Maguire and began to live with her in a civil marriage. The couple had fifteen children (eight of them died in infancy). Among the survivors was Alfred, who was born in 1912.

The Lennons lived then on Copperfield Street. But soon John and Mary entered into a legal marriage, and the whole family moved to Everton. Maguire gave birth to two more children - Charles and Edith. Then Lennon again had to move to Copperfield Street. There in 1921 John died. Mary could not independently provide all the children, so she had to send Edith and Alfred into an orphanage. The mother of the hero of this article lived another twenty-eight years and died in 1949.

Childhood

According to memories of relatives, Alfred Lennon grew up a cheerful youth. He never gave up a good pastime. In childhood, the boy was sick with rickets. As a result, he was able to grow only up to 160 centimeters. In 1927, Alfred fled the shelter, joining the musical youth group Will Murray. For a while Lennon toured with her, but soon he was detained in Glasgow and sent back to the orphanage. Then the young man finally left this institution and began to work.

But Alfred did not stay long in any place. He often borrowed money from Brother Sidney, who worked at the tailor. And most of his time, the young man was entertained, visiting vaudeville and in cinemas.

First love

Once Alfred Lennon walked with a friend in Sefton Park. On one of the benches sat 14-year-old Julia Stanley. When the girl saw 15-year-old Alfred passing by, she declared that his hat looked pretty stupid. The boy, on the contrary, answered her with a compliment, saying that Julia herself looks charming. After that Alfred sat down next to her on the bench. The girl asked him to take off his ugly hat, and he threw the pot in the lake without hesitation.

Later, the young people became friends. Both were very fond of music. Alfred often imitated the singing of El Johnson and Louis Armstrong. In addition, he, like Julia, was good at playing the banjo (the genus of the guitar). The couple often walked around Liverpool and dreamed of a joint business in the future, intending to open a store, club, pub or cafe.

Wedding

Alfred Lennon and Julia Stanley were married only eleven years after their first meeting. And the proposal was not made by the hero of this article, but on the contrary. The girl's family was against this marriage, so none of them came to the wedding. And Alfred invited his brother Sidney as a witness.

The celebration took place at Clayton Square in the restaurant Rice. Well, after the young people went to the movies. The wedding night was spent separately.

Replenishment in the family

January 1940 - this is the time when I learned about the pregnancy of my wife Alfred Lennon. Son John Winston was born in October at the maternity hospital in Oxford Street. Alfred did not see him right away, but only a month after his birth, as he worked on a military ship and could not return to England on time. So he came home at home, but he regularly sent his wife and son money. In 1943, checks from Lennon stopped coming. Soon, Julia found out that her husband had deserted.

Disorder

My wife did not miss Alfred's absence. She entered into a relationship with the soldier Teffi Williams and even gave birth to a child from him. But under the pressure of her family, Julia had to give him into the care of one married couple from Norway. She did not formally divorce Alfred. Soon the girl found herself a new boyfriend - Bobby Dykes - and began to live with him. And John was at this time at Sidney (Alfred's brother).

In the summer of 1946 the boy was staying with his aunt on Menlow Avenue. Alfred came there and said that he was taking his son on vacation in Blackpool. In fact, he was going to emigrate with him to New Zealand. Julia recognized this and immediately arrived. After heated arguments, Alfred ordered the five-year-old John to choose with whom he would live. The future leader of the Liverpool four has twice named the father's name. After Julia walked away, the boy burst into tears and ran after her. Since then, Alfred has not seen anyone of his family until the time of Beatlemania.

Future life

Later, the hero of this article told about what happened to him in 1943 after unauthorized departure from the ship. Lennon sailed to North Africa (Bon). Soon he was arrested for stealing bottles of beer and put in jail for nine days. After the release of Alfred was engaged in various "dark deeds." Then I settled down to work on a ship that shuttled between Italy and North Africa. And only in 1944 he finally managed to return to the sea to England. Five years later, Alfred had to end his career as a ship steward. The whole point was that he served six months in jail. The term Lennon received for being in a drunken state broke late at night store window, took from there a mannequin in a wedding dress and began to dance with him in the middle of the street.

Meeting with the son

Prior to the peak of Beatlemania, Alfred had never seen John and did not know who the Beatles were. Lennon Sr. worked at the Greyhound Hotel in the kitchen. One day a visitor showed him a newspaper article with a picture of John and asked if he was related to him. Later, Alfred visited the Beatles Christmas show.

Soon in the company of a journalist he came to the office of the manager of the group Brian Epstein and stated that he was the father of John. Brian was in a panic and sent for a musician car. When John arrived, Alfred gave him his hand, but he refused to shake it. Their conversation was short: the singer very quickly put his father out of the office.

Publishing albums

At the end of 1965, Alfred Lennon released the single "This is my life". By this act, he greatly embarrassed his son. John asked his manager Epsstein to do everything necessary to make the composition not a hit. Bryan did his best - the song did not hit any of the rating tables. In 1966, Alfred again released three singles in collaboration with the collective Loving Kind. But this attempt was also unsuccessful. But now these singles have a collector's value. For example, "This is my life" costs more than 50 pounds.

New marriage

In 1966, Alfred met 18-year-old Polina Jones, who studied at Exeter University. The newly-baked couple long persuaded the mother of the girl to give them permission to marry. Soon the enamored was fed up, and they decided to flee to Scotland, where they were married in the village of Gretna Green. Arranging a spouse for a job is the goal that Alfred Lennon after some time asked.

The son of John Lennon named Julian just was left without a nanny. Alfred asked him to take on the post Pauline. So, she moved to Kenwood and began to look after Julian. Also, the girl looked through numerous letters from the fans of John. A few months later Alfred moved with his wife to Brighton. There they were born, their children - Robin Francis and David Henry.

Death

At the end of life, the father of Beatleman John Lennon, Alfred Lennon wrote an autobiography. He dedicated it to his son. In the book, Alfred tried to convey to John that the blame for the division of their family lies entirely with his ex-wife Julia. In 1976, Lennon Sr. got to the hospital. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Polina contacted John and reported the difficult condition of her father. The singer sent him flowers and talked on the phone, apologizing for the behavior in the past. Soon Alfred passed away.