page_title: Alfred Lennon
section_title: Julia Stanley
hierarchical_section_title: Alfred Lennon / Julia Stanley
caption_attribution_description: English: View of Sefton Park by Rob
context_page_description: Alfred Lennon, known as Alf Lennon and Freddie Lennon, was the father of English musician John Lennon. He spent many years in an orphanage—with his sister, Edith—after his father died. He was considered very witty and musical throughout his life—he sang and played the banjo—but not considered very reliable or dependable. Although informally called Alf by his family, he released a record as Freddie Lennon, and was referred to in the media by that name.
  He married Julia Stanley in 1938. John was their only child, but as Alf was frequently away at sea during World War II, he did not see much of his child during his infancy. During this period Julia became pregnant with another man's child. He offered to look after his wife, their child and the expected baby, but Julia rejected the idea. Alf had very little contact with his son until Beatlemania, when they met again, but later had only intermittent contact with each other. He died in Brighton, where he had gone to live after marrying Pauline Jones, about 35 years his junior, with whom he had two sons.
context_section_description: Alf first saw Julia Stanley at the Trocadero club, a converted cinema on Camden Road, Liverpool. Although he did not speak to her at the time, he later saw Julia again in Sefton Park, where he had gone with a friend to meet girls. Alf, who was dressed in a bowler hat and holding a cigarette holder, saw "this little waif" sitting on a wrought-iron bench. The 14-year-old Julia said that his hat looked "silly," to which the 15-year-old replied that Julia looked "lovely," and sat down next to her. Julia asked him to take off his hat, which he promptly did but threw it straight into the lake.
  Alf was a musician, and specialised in impersonating Louis Armstrong and Al Jolson. He played the banjo, as did Julia, though neither pursued music professionally (Julia would later teach her son how to play the banjo). They spent their days together walking around Liverpool and dreaming of what they would do in the future—such as opening a shop, pub, cafe, or a club. In March 1930, he took a job as bellboy on board the Cunard passenger liner SS Montrose. He kept in touch with Julia, writing letters and meeting whenever he docked in Liverpool. Alf was later offered a job on a whaling ship for two years—which would have earned him enough money to buy a house—but turned it down on discovering that Julia's father had arranged it, in order to keep him away from Julia.
  On 3 December 1938, 11 years after they had first met, Julia married Alf after proposing to him. They were married in the Bolton Street Register Office, and on the marriage certificate Julia stated her occupation as 'cinema usherette', even though she had never been one. Julia's family were absent from the wedding, but Alf's brother Sydney acted as a witness. They spent their honeymoon eating at 'Reece's' restaurant in Clayton Square (which is where his son would later celebrate after his marriage to Cynthia Powell), and then went to a cinema. On their wedding night, Julia stayed at the Stanleys' house and Alf returned to his rooming house.
  Julia's family were opposed to Alfred: her father said he was "certainly not middle class," and her sister Mimi was particularly unimpressed by him. Julia's father demanded concrete evidence that he could financially support Julia, but Alf's only idea was to sign on as a Merchant Navy bellboy on a ship bound for the Mediterranean. He later worked on ocean liners that travelled between the Greek islands, North Africa and the West Indies. Whilst away he graduated from bellboy to steward, and on his return to Liverpool moved into the Stanley home in Newcastle Road. He auditioned for local theatre managers as a 'ship's entertainer,' but had no success, and so returned to sea.
caption: Sefton Park, where Julia Stanley first met Alf Lennon
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