said why didn’t she come with me? We could start again? She said no. All she wanted was John. So we argued and I said, well, let John decide.
‘I shouted to John. He runs out and jumps on my knee. He clings to me, asking if she’s coming back. That’s obviously what he really wanted. I said no, he had to decide whether to stay with me or go with her. He said me. Julia asked again, but John still said me.
‘Julia went out of the door and was about to go up the street when John ran after her. That was the last I saw of him or heard of him till I was told he’d become a Beatle.’
John went back to Liverpool with Julia but not to stay with her. It was his Aunt Mimi who wanted him back. He moved in, for good this time, with Mimi and her husband George at their semi-detached house in Menlove Avenue, Woolton, Liverpool.
‘I never told John about his father and mother,’ says Mimi. ‘I just wanted to protect him from all that. Perhaps I was overanxious. I don’t know. I just wanted him to be happy.’
John is very grateful to Mimi for what she did. ‘She was obviously very good to me. She must have been worried about the conditions I was brought up in and must have been always on at them to think about me, telling them to make sure the kid’s safe. As they trusted her, they let her have me in the end, I suppose.’
John soon settled down with Mimi. She brought him up as her son. She was a disciplinarian and stood no nonsense, but she never hit him or shouted at him. She considers this a sign of weakness in a parent. Her worst punishment was to ignore him. ‘He always hated that. “Don’t ’nore me, Mimi,” he used to say.’
But Mimi allowed his personality to develop. ‘We were always an individual family. Mother never believed in being conventional, and neither do I. She never wore a wedding ring all her life and neither have I. Why should I?’
But Uncle George, who ran the family dairy business, was the weak link, if John wanted to be spoiled. ‘I used to find notes John had left under George’s pillow. “Dear George, will you wash me tonight and not Mimi.” Or “Dear George, will you take me to Woolton Pictures.”’
Mimi allowed John only two outings of that sort a year – one to the Christmas Pantomime at the Liverpool Empire and the other to a Walt Disney film in the summer. But there were smaller treats, such as Strawberry Fields, a local Salvation Army children’s home which each summer had a big garden party. ‘Assoon as we could hear the Salvation Army band starting, John would jump up and down shouting, “Mimi, come on. We’re going to be late.”’
John’s first school was Dovedale Primary. ‘The headmaster, Mr Evans, told me this boy’s as sharp as a needle. He can do anything, as long as he chooses to do it. He won’t do anything stereotyped.’
John was reading and writing after only five months at school, with the help of his Uncle George, though his spelling was funny, even then. Chickenpox was always chicken pots. ‘He went on holiday to my sister’s in Edinburgh once and sent me a postcard saying “Funs are getting low.” I’ve still got it.’
Mimi wanted to take John back and forward to Dovedale School herself, but he wouldn’t allow it. After only his third day, he said she was making a show of him and she hadn’t to come any more. So she had to content herself by walking secretly behind him out of school, keeping about 20 yards behind, shadowing him to see that he was all right.
‘His favourite songs were “Let Him Go, Let Him Tarry” and “Wee Willy Winkie”. He had a good voice. He used to sing in the choir at St Peter’s, Woolton. He always went to Sunday School and was later confirmed when he was 15 of his own free will. Religion was never forced on him but the inclination was there until he was a teenager.’
Until the age of 14, Mimi gave him only five shillings a week pocket money. ‘I tried to teach him the value of money, but it never
‘I shouted to John. He runs out and jumps on my knee. He clings to me, asking if she’s coming back. That’s obviously what he really wanted. I said no, he had to decide whether to stay with me or go with her. He said me. Julia asked again, but John still said me.
‘Julia went out of the door and was about to go up the street when John ran after her. That was the last I saw of him or heard of him till I was told he’d become a Beatle.’
John went back to Liverpool with Julia but not to stay with her. It was his Aunt Mimi who wanted him back. He moved in, for good this time, with Mimi and her husband George at their semi-detached house in Menlove Avenue, Woolton, Liverpool.
‘I never told John about his father and mother,’ says Mimi. ‘I just wanted to protect him from all that. Perhaps I was overanxious. I don’t know. I just wanted him to be happy.’
John is very grateful to Mimi for what she did. ‘She was obviously very good to me. She must have been worried about the conditions I was brought up in and must have been always on at them to think about me, telling them to make sure the kid’s safe. As they trusted her, they let her have me in the end, I suppose.’
John soon settled down with Mimi. She brought him up as her son. She was a disciplinarian and stood no nonsense, but she never hit him or shouted at him. She considers this a sign of weakness in a parent. Her worst punishment was to ignore him. ‘He always hated that. “Don’t ’nore me, Mimi,” he used to say.’
But Mimi allowed his personality to develop. ‘We were always an individual family. Mother never believed in being conventional, and neither do I. She never wore a wedding ring all her life and neither have I. Why should I?’
But Uncle George, who ran the family dairy business, was the weak link, if John wanted to be spoiled. ‘I used to find notes John had left under George’s pillow. “Dear George, will you wash me tonight and not Mimi.” Or “Dear George, will you take me to Woolton Pictures.”’
Mimi allowed John only two outings of that sort a year – one to the Christmas Pantomime at the Liverpool Empire and the other to a Walt Disney film in the summer. But there were smaller treats, such as Strawberry Fields, a local Salvation Army children’s home which each summer had a big garden party. ‘Assoon as we could hear the Salvation Army band starting, John would jump up and down shouting, “Mimi, come on. We’re going to be late.”’
John’s first school was Dovedale Primary. ‘The headmaster, Mr Evans, told me this boy’s as sharp as a needle. He can do anything, as long as he chooses to do it. He won’t do anything stereotyped.’
John was reading and writing after only five months at school, with the help of his Uncle George, though his spelling was funny, even then. Chickenpox was always chicken pots. ‘He went on holiday to my sister’s in Edinburgh once and sent me a postcard saying “Funs are getting low.” I’ve still got it.’
Mimi wanted to take John back and forward to Dovedale School herself, but he wouldn’t allow it. After only his third day, he said she was making a show of him and she hadn’t to come any more. So she had to content herself by walking secretly behind him out of school, keeping about 20 yards behind, shadowing him to see that he was all right.
‘His favourite songs were “Let Him Go, Let Him Tarry” and “Wee Willy Winkie”. He had a good voice. He used to sing in the choir at St Peter’s, Woolton. He always went to Sunday School and was later confirmed when he was 15 of his own free will. Religion was never forced on him but the inclination was there until he was a teenager.’
Until the age of 14, Mimi gave him only five shillings a week pocket money. ‘I tried to teach him the value of money, but it never
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