Julia Stanley had first met Alf Lennon in 1928. Although her family disapproved of the sharp-talking sailor, they courted throughout the 1930s and finally married on 3 December 1938.
Alf Lennon later said that Julia had dared him to marry her one night at the pub. The challenge was accepted, and the wedding took place at Bolton Street registry office.
Neither of their families knew that they were intending to be married. The couple met at noon at the office, and were joined by their two witnesses: Alf’s brother Sydney, who was told just before the ceremony; and a friend of Julia’s, a cinema usherette at the Trocadero on Liverpool’s Camden Street.
Afterwards Sydney took the happy couple for a meal of roast chicken at Reece’s, a restaurant in nearby Clayton Square, where John and Cynthia also celebrated their wedding.
In the evening Julia and Alf watched a Mickey Rooney film at the cinema, but spent their wedding night apart at their respective homes. Upon her return home, Julia threw her marriage certificate down in front of her shocked family and exclaimed: “There, I’ve done it! I’ve married him!”
Also on this day...
- 2009: Paul McCartney live: O2 World, Berlin
- 1973: US album release: Band On The Run by Paul McCartney and Wings
- 1969: George Harrison live: Town Hall, Birmingham with Delaney & Bonnie
- 1969: Television: 24 Hours: The World Of John And Yoko – day two
- 1965: The Beatles’ final UK tour begins in Glasgow
- 1965: UK album release: Rubber Soul
- 1965: UK single release: We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper
- 1963: Live: Guildhall, Portsmouth
- 1962: Television: Discs A Gogo
- 1961: Live: Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Julia seems like a bit flake. Runs off marries Fred, leaves him takes up with Taffy, gets pregnant by him, unloads John on Mimi, takes up with yet another guy has two lovely daughters without being married, is it any wonder John wound up such a basket case. Emeraldeyes
I know – I always considered it eccentric that Julia never divorced Alf, despite permanently separating from him in around 1944, and it’s not like divorce wasn’t permitted by the Law of England.
That wasn’t on Julia that was Alf. She needed his permission, in Pauline Lennon’s book Alf says that he was chased multiple times over the divorce, but always refused because , how dare they put a price on a marriage. He goes on to say that if he’d known children were involved he would of acted differently, because obviously Julia and Jackie were illegitimate children because of this and Julia and Bobby were lying about their status (on their housing application and who knows what else).
To be honest having read Alf’s book I don’t think it was a good marriage and she probably never should have gotten involved with him. He’s a lifelong alcoholic, with no job except sailor (which he was forced into , but then never wanted to move on from) , he describes a mutually abusive relationship (her family considered it one way), he wanted her to only spend time with him when he got back (as if he hadn’t been away for months or years which must have been difficult) and he had very old timey views about the role of women.