“Carl Jung” – Liverpool is the pool of life. “I FOUND myself in a dirty, sooty city. It was night, and winter, and dark, and raining. I was in Liverpool.” But Carl Gustav Jung, the man who famously concluded that “Liverpool is the pool of life” – never was.
Carl Gustav Jung 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology, who worked with Sigmund Freud.
“Fred Astaire” – Fred and Ginger, Alf and Julia. Alf “Fred” Lennon and Julia “Ginger” Stanley both loved dancing and were the Fred and Ginger of Liverpool!
“Sir Robert Peel” – A two-time Prime Minister of Great Britain, Sir Robert Peel was a major force behind easing restrictions on Catholics in Britain and the reformation of the judicial system in the 1830s. He was later considered to be an enemy to his own Conservative party when he went against his own political interest to repeal the Corn Laws to help alleviate the effects of the Irish Famine in the 1840s. John Lennon’s great-grandparents came over from Ireland in the 1840s so this would have helped the Lennon family.
“Tommy Handley” – Liverpool comedian. Thomas Reginald “Tommy” Handley (17 January 1892 – 9 January 1949) was a British comedian, mainly known for the BBC radio program ITMA (“It’s That Man Again”). He was born at Toxteth Park (where John’s parents Alf Lennon and Julia Stanley were from), Liverpool in Lancashire. The Beatles would have listened to Tommy Handley on the radio, one of many Liverpool comedians, like Ted Ray, Arthur Askey, and Rob Wilton.
“Albert Stubbins” – from Newcastle. One of the best centre-forwards of his generation, in the 1940s, he moved from Newcastle to Liverpool FC for £13,000 in 1946. Liverpool’s rivals, Everton FC also tried to sign him, so he decided on the toss of a coin between Liverpool and Everton. Liverpool won! Why would he be there, as none of The Beatles were particularly sporty? When John was at Dovedale School, around the age of seven, he wrote a paper called “Sport and Speed, Illustrated”. This would have been the time when Stubbins was scoring regularly for Liverpool FC. Maybe that is why he appears on the cover.
“Anonymous Legionnaire: RAOB” – Hiding behind actress Diana Dors is a member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. The fraternal organization, which started in 1822, raises money for charities and provides assistance to its members and their families in times of need. This isn’t a random selection. John’s uncles, Charlie and Herbert Lennon, were members of The Dingle Lodge 4303, which was situated at 36, Devonshire Road, just two doors away from my childhood home of 40, Devonshire Road.
To find out more about The Beatles and Liverpool, you can order the brand new Third Edition of “Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles” from www.davidabedford.com
David Bedford
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