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Alfred Lennon (14 December 1912 – 1 April 1976), also known as Freddie Lennon, was an English seaman and singer who was best known as the father of musician John Lennon. Alfred spent many years in an orphanage with his sister, Edith, after his father died.
Lennon married Julia Lennon in 1938. John was their only child, but, as Alfred was away at sea during World War II, he did not see his son much during infancy. During this period Julia became pregnant with another man's child. Alfred offered to look after his wife, their child, and the expected baby, but Julia rejected the idea. Alfred had very little contact with his son until Beatlemania, when they met again, but later the pair had only intermittent contact with each other. Alfred died in Brighton, England, where he had lived since marrying Pauline Jones, with whom he had two sons.
Alfred was a musician, and specialised in impersonating Louis Armstrong and Al Jolson. He played the banjo, as did Julia, although neither pursued music professionally (Julia would later teach their 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, café, or a club. In March 1930, he took a job as bellboy on board the Cunard Line passenger liner SS Montrose. He kept in touch with Julia, writing letters and meeting whenever he docked in Liverpool. Alfred 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 Alfred 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 Alfred'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 Lennon), and then went to a cinema. On their wedding night, Julia stayed at the Stanleys' house and Alfred 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 Smith was particularly unimpressed by him. Julia's father demanded concrete evidence that he could financially support Julia, but Alfred'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.
Alfred later told his version of what happened while he was AWOL in 1943. He claimed that he had sailed from the United States to Bône, North Africa, but was arrested for stealing one bottle of beer from the ship. He consequently served nine days in a military prison. After his release he became involved in various "shady deals", allegedly rescued from a criminal gang of Arabs. He eventually served on a troopship from North Africa to Italy before finally boarding a ship that was making its way to England in 1944.
When Alfred eventually returned to Liverpool on 13 January 1945, he offered to look after Julia, their son, and the expected baby, but Julia rejected the idea. A few months before the birth, Alfred took John to his brother Sydney's house, in the Liverpool suburb of Maghull. Julia gave birth to a daughter, Victoria, who was subsequently placed for adoption (after intense pressure from Julia's father and family) to a Norwegian Salvation Army Captain. Julia later met Bobby Dykins and lived with him, but after considerable pressure from Mimi—who twice contacted Liverpool's Social Services and complained about the infant sleeping in the same bed as Julia and Dykins—Julia reluctantly handed the care of her son over to Mimi. According to his brother Charlie, people would visit the Lennon house in Copperfield Street while Alfred was away at sea, offering large sums of money (up to £300) if Alfred would divorce Julia, but Charlie told them to "get lost". Mersey Beat: Uncle Charlie-6 triumphpc.com - Retrieved 31 January 2007
In June 1946, Alfred visited Mimi's house at 251 Menlove Avenue and took his son to Blackpool for a long "holiday"—but secretly intended to emigrate to New Zealand with him. Julia and Dykins discovered this and followed them to Blackpool, and after a heated argument, Alfred made the five-year-old boy choose between Julia or him. John chose Alfred (twice), and then Julia walked away, but in the end, John, crying, followed her, although this has been disputed. According to author Mark Lewisohn, Lennon's parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home as Alfred left again. A witness who was there that day, Billy Hall, has said that the dramatic scene, often portrayed with a young John Lennon having to make a decision between his parents, never happened.
Alfred made no real attempt to contact John until the height of Beatlemania (claiming he did not know who the Beatles were). He was working as a kitchen porter at the Greyhound Hotel at Hampton Court, in Middlesex, when someone pointed to a photograph of John Lennon in a newspaper asking whether he was related to him. Alfred, along with Charlie, visited one of the Beatles' Christmas shows at the London Astoria in London. When the Beatles were filming a scene for A Hard Day's Night in the Scala Theatre in Soho in April 1964, Alfred walked into Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises office in Argyle Street with a journalist. When Epstein was informed that Alfred was John Lennon's father, he "went into a panic," immediately sending a car to bring John to NEMS office. Alfred was shabbily dressed, with his unkempt, thinning grey hair greased back. When John arrived, Alfred stuck out his hand, but John did not take it, asking, "What do you want?" Alfred placated John somewhat by saying, "You can't turn your back on your family, no matter what they've done." Their conversation did not last long, as John soon ordered Alfred and the journalist out of the NEMS office. The Beatles' personal stories were kept out of the newspapers—by agreement with journalists who were offered exclusive stories in return—but one day John opened a copy of the Daily Express seeing a photo of his father.
A few weeks later, John's wife Cynthia Lennon opened the door of Kenwood (their home in Weybridge) to see a man who "looked like a tramp" but, alarmingly, with John's face. Cynthia invited Alfred in to wait for John to return home. While waiting, Cynthia made Alfred tea and cheese on toast, and offered to cut his "long, stringy locks" of hair, which he allowed. After waiting for a couple of hours, Alfred left. John was annoyed when he arrived home, telling Cynthia about Alfred's visit to the NEMS office a few weeks earlier. Later he relented and contacted Alfred over the next few months, telling Cynthia, "Alright, Cyn. He's a bit 'wacky,' like me." After Christmas, in 1965, John was embarrassed to learn that Alfred had made a record: "That's My Life (My Love and My Home)", released on 31 December 1965. The A and B sides of "That’s My Life" Single beatlemania.ca – Retrieved 26 September 2007 John asked Epstein to do anything he could to stop it being released or becoming a hit. The record never made it into the charts.
In 1990, Pauline published a book called Daddy, Come Home, detailing her life with Alfred and his meetings with John. "Daddy Come Home" book amazon.com - Retrieved: 15 September 2007 Pauline later remarried.
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