Julia Baird
Encyclopedia
Julia Baird (born 5 March 1947) is the eldest daughter of John 'Bobby' Albert Dykins (1918 - December 1965) and Julia Lennon
(12 March 1914 – 15 July 1958). Baird's older half-brother was late English musician John Lennon
; she also had an older half-sister, Ingrid Pederson. Her younger sister was Jacqueline 'Jacqui' Dykins (born 26 October 1949).
Lennon started visiting the Dykins' house in 1951. After the death of Julia Lennon in 1958, Harriet and Norman Birch were appointed guardians of Julia and Jacqui, ignoring Dykins' parentage, as he had never legally married their mother. Lennon invited the Dykins sisters to visit after the success of The Beatles
, when he was living in Kenwood
, Weybridge
, with his wife, Cynthia Lennon
.
Julia Dykins (Baird) married Allen Baird in 1968 and moved to Belfast
. They had three children together but were divorced in 1981. Baird worked as a special needs teacher
, and after Lennon's death she wrote John Lennon, My Brother (with Geoffrey Giuliano
) and gave up working in 2004 to write Imagine This - Growing up with my brother John Lennon. She is now a director of Cavern City Tours in Liverpool.
' (1906-1991), Elizabeth 'Mater' (1908-1976), Anne 'Nanny' (1911-1988), Julia 'Judy' (1914-1958), and Harriet 'Harrie' (1916-1972).
Lennon was Julia's first child by Alfred Lennon, although she later had a daughter called Victoria (renamed Ingrid) after an affair with a Welsh soldier while Alfred was at sea. Julia was forced to give up the child for adoption after intense pressure from her father and her sisters. Although they had known each other previously, Julia started dating Dykins while working in a café near Mosspits, which was Lennon's primary school. Dykins was said to be a good-looking, well-dressed man who was several years older than Julia and worked at the Adelphi Hotel
in Liverpool as a wine steward
. Julia later moved into a small flat
in Gateacre
with Dykins, who had access to rationed
goods like alcohol, chocolate, silks
and cigarettes. The Stanley sisters called Dykins a "Spiv
", because of his pencil-thin moustache, margarine
-coated hair, and pork-pie hat, but the young Lennon called him "Twitchy" because of a physical tic
and nervous cough Dykins had. Although Julia never divorced Alfred Lennon, she was the Common-law
wife of Dykins, although Paul McCartney
admitted to being sarcastic
to Lennon about his mother living in sin while Julia was still married.
Julia's sister, Mimi, called Julia and Dykins' home—at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool—"The House of Sin" and her own house (where Lennon lived) "The House of Correction". When Jacqui was born prematurely
on 26 October 1949, Julia went back to the hospital every day to see her, although she was often not allowed (by Mimi) to visit Lennon.
Dykins later managed several bars in Liverpool, which allowed Julia to stay at home at Blomfield Road, to look after Baird, Jacqui, a cat named "Elvis
", and the 11-year-old Lennon, who had started to visit and occasionally stayed overnight. Baird would give up her bed to Lennon, and share Jacqui's double bed. Dykins used to give Lennon weekly pocket money
(one shilling
) for doing odd jobs, such as collecting golf balls on the local course, on top of the five shillings that Lennon's Aunt Mimi gave him. During Lennon's visits, he would climb trees with Baird and Jacqui, test Baird's spelling, and once gave Baird half-a-crown to leave him alone when he wanted to kiss his first girlfriend. Baird remembered that after Lennon had visited them, her mother would often play a record called, My Son John, To Me You Are So Wonderful, "by some old crooner
, and sit and listen to it". "My Son John"—sung by David Whitfield
—was released in 1956. Although Mimi sent Lennon to his Aunt's croft
in Sango Bay, Durness
, Scotland, for his holidays, he later persuaded Mimi to let him take short holidays in North Wales with the Dykins family. Julia took Baird and Jacqui to Rosebury Street, Liverpool, to watch Lennon play with The Quarrymen
on the back of a flatbed
coal truck on 22 June 1957. Baird was allowed to sit on the back, but as the music was too loud she asked to be taken off. The Quarrymen played twice that day as part of a celebration to mark the 750th anniversary of the granting of Liverpool’s charter by King John
. Lennon and McCartney would later rehearse in the bathroom of Blomfield Road because they said the acoustics "sounded like a recording studio".
car driven by an off-duty constable
, PC Eric Clague, who was a learner-driver
. Clague later said: "Mrs Lennon just ran straight out in front of me. I just couldn't avoid her. I was not speeding, I swear it. It was just one of those terrible things that happen." Baird and Jacqui (aged eleven and eight respectively) were sent straightway to stay in Edinburgh
at Aunt Mater's, and were not allowed to attend the funeral. They were told two months later by Norman Birch (Lennon's uncle) that their mother had died. Lennon's Aunt Harriet and Uncle Norman Birch were made legal guardians of the girls—ignoring Dykins' parentage, as he had never legally married Julia. Julia was buried in the Allerton Cemetery
, in Liverpool
. Her gravesite is unmarked, and over the years its location was forgotten until it was recently identified by Jacqui as "CE (Church of England) 38-805".
Baird and Jacqui were taken to live with the Birches and their son at The Dairy Cottage, which was owned by Mimi's husband, George Smith
. At the age of 14 Baird was allowed to go into Liverpool city centre by herself, where she drank cappuccino
coffee in the Kardomah Coffee House, although Baird and her friends called it "frothy coffee". At 16, Baird started to hitch-hike
to London, although her Aunt never knew, as she would never have allowed it. Baird talked about the trips to London, and how relatively safe they were: "Hitching was easy then. It was a way of life. Everything was becoming more free. We'd start chatting to people in the Tube station and get invited to parties. People always gave us a place to stay - we were never harmed."
Baird and Jacqui were asked to visit Lennon at Kenwood which was his home in Weybridge in 1964. Cynthia Lennon
—Lennon's wife at the time—took them both out shopping in Knightsbridge, buying them expensive clothes. During the same visit, The Beatles played at the Finsbury Park Astoria
, and the sisters asked to be allowed to stand near the front, but had to be pulled out of the audience by security guards because of the crush. In December 1965, Dykins was killed in a car crash at the bottom of Penny Lane. Lennon was not told about his death for months afterwards. Dykins had married again, but Baird acknowledges that she and Jacqui had very little contact with his wife, and did not attend their father's funeral.
In 1968, Lennon was told The Dairy Cottage was too cramped for them all, so he told Birch to buy a house, and he found a 4-bedroom house in Gateacre Park Drive, Liverpool. Lennon told Birch to furnish and decorate it, and to send all the bills to him. The Dykinses heard nothing from Lennon for years, until he phoned Baird in 1975, and asked for mementos
of his childhood life, such as his school tie and photographs. He sent £3,000 to cover the cost of shipping and as a gift, but wrote, "Don't tell Mimi". Lennon continued to call Baird until 1976, when the calls stopped. Jacqui worked as a shop assistant during the 1970s, but battled against a heroin addiction. In the 1980s, and fully recovered, Jacqui gave birth to her son, John, later working as a hairstylist.
After Lennon and Harriet died, Yoko Ono
wanted to sell the house—as it was still in Lennon's name—but later gave it to the Salvation Army on 2 November 1993, even though Lennon had once written: "I always thought of the house he's in [Birch] as my contribution towards looking after Julia [Baird] and Jacqui. I would prefer the girls to use it."
Baird married Allen Baird in 1968 and moved to Belfast, but kept her family history a secret. The Bairds had three children together: Nicholas (b. 1971) Sara (b. 1972) and David (b. 1980) but got divorced in 1981. Baird went to university and gained an MA
in Philosophy of Education
, and during her time there she spent a year out in France, hitch-hiked around Europe, and protested against the war in Vietnam in Paris alongside Simone de Beauvoir
. Baird later taught French and English before working as a special needs teacher
with teenagers in deprived areas of Chester
, until she retired to write books and become a director of Cavern City Tours.
Baird and Jacqui later met their half-sister Ingrid Pederson for the first time when they were present at the ceremony to place a Blue Heritage plaque
on Mimi's house, commemorating the fact that Lennon had lived there. Baird and Jacqui had only recently found out who Pederson was, after being told by journalist Bill Smithies of the Liverpool Echo
newspaper. Baird was shocked that Pederson did not look anything like the Stanley or the Lennon family, as she had pale blue eyes and fair hair.
After releasing the book, John Lennon, My Brother—written with Giuliano, and a foreword
by McCartney—Baird travelled to New York during 1989 to appear at a Beatles' convention, and was asked if she could prove she was really Lennon's half-sister. Baird declined, saying she was not going to produce her passport, and the audience would just have to take her word for it. In 2000, Baird was present at the unveiling of six road signs, erected on major routes into Liverpool, saying, "Liverpool welcomes you - to the birthplace of THE BEATLES", and in October she planted a tree in Liverpool's Peace Gardens to commemorate Lennon's birthday.
Baird stopped working and retired in 2004, and published a book called Imagine This - Growing up with my brother John Lennon, in February 2007. Baird and Jacqui have both publicly said they wished Lennon had "never seen a guitar", and Baird can not listen to Lennon's music, as she finds it too upsetting.
From 28 to 30 September 2007, Durness held the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival which was attended by Baird (who read from Lennon's writings and her own books) and Stanley Parkes (Lennon's Scottish cousin). Parkes said, "Me and Julia [Baird] are going to be going to the old family croft
to tell stories". Musicians, painters and poets from across the UK performed at the festival. Baird now lives in Chester
with her partner, Roger Keys.
Baird claims she was never told that her mother was buried in the Allerton Cemetery
, in Liverpool
, although the graveyard's location is approximately 1.19 miles east of 1 Blomfield Road. The gravesite is unmarked, but was recently identified as "CE (Church of England) 38-805". Baird said the Stanley family hope to finally put a headstone on her mother's grave at some point, but hopes that it will be a private affair for the family and not for the public.
Julia Lennon
Julia Lennon was the mother of English musician John Lennon, who was born during her marriage to Alfred Lennon. After complaints to Liverpool's Social Services by her eldest sister, Mimi Smith , she handed over the care of her son to her sister...
(12 March 1914 – 15 July 1958). Baird's older half-brother was late English musician John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
; she also had an older half-sister, Ingrid Pederson. Her younger sister was Jacqueline 'Jacqui' Dykins (born 26 October 1949).
Lennon started visiting the Dykins' house in 1951. After the death of Julia Lennon in 1958, Harriet and Norman Birch were appointed guardians of Julia and Jacqui, ignoring Dykins' parentage, as he had never legally married their mother. Lennon invited the Dykins sisters to visit after the success of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, when he was living in Kenwood
Kenwood, St. George's Hill
Kenwood is a house on the St. George's Hill estate, Weybridge, Surrey, England. Originally called the Brown House, it was designed by architect T.A. Allen, and built in 1913 by local builders, Love & Sons. The estate was constructed around the Weybridge Golf Club, which was designed in 1912 by...
, Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, with his wife, Cynthia Lennon
Cynthia Lennon
Cynthia Lillian Lennon is the former wife of musician John Lennon, and mother of Julian Lennon. She grew up in the middle-class section of Hoylake, on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England. At the age of twelve, she was accepted into the Junior Art School, and was later enrolled in the...
.
Julia Dykins (Baird) married Allen Baird in 1968 and moved to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. They had three children together but were divorced in 1981. Baird worked as a special needs teacher
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
, and after Lennon's death she wrote John Lennon, My Brother (with Geoffrey Giuliano
Geoffrey Giuliano
Geoffrey Giuliano is an American author, radio personality and film actor, best known for his biographies of The Beatles members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, and of musician Pete Townshend....
) and gave up working in 2004 to write Imagine This - Growing up with my brother John Lennon. She is now a director of Cavern City Tours in Liverpool.
Early years
Baird's mother, Julia Lennon, was the fourth of five children in the Stanley family: Mary, known as 'MimiMimi Smith
Mary Elizabeth "Mimi" Smith was the maternal aunt and parental guardian of the English musician John Lennon. Mimi was born in Liverpool, England and was the oldest of five daughters. She became a resident trainee nurse at the Woolton Convalescent Hospital, and later worked as a private secretary...
' (1906-1991), Elizabeth 'Mater' (1908-1976), Anne 'Nanny' (1911-1988), Julia 'Judy' (1914-1958), and Harriet 'Harrie' (1916-1972).
Lennon was Julia's first child by Alfred Lennon, although she later had a daughter called Victoria (renamed Ingrid) after an affair with a Welsh soldier while Alfred was at sea. Julia was forced to give up the child for adoption after intense pressure from her father and her sisters. Although they had known each other previously, Julia started dating Dykins while working in a café near Mosspits, which was Lennon's primary school. Dykins was said to be a good-looking, well-dressed man who was several years older than Julia and worked at the Adelphi Hotel
British Transport Hotels
British Transport Hotels was the brand name of the hotels and catering business associated with the nationalised railway system in Great Britain from 1953 to 1983.- Organisation :...
in Liverpool as a wine steward
Sommelier
A sommelier , or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, commonly working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food matching...
. Julia later moved into a small flat
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
in Gateacre
Gateacre
Gateacre is a district of Liverpool, England, located approximately from the city centre. It is bordered by Childwall, Woolton and Belle Vale...
with Dykins, who had access to rationed
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
goods like alcohol, chocolate, silks
Stocking
A stocking, , is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color, design and transparency...
and cigarettes. The Stanley sisters called Dykins a "Spiv
Spiv
In the United Kingdom, a spiv is a particular type of petty criminal, who deals in stolen or black market goods of questionable authenticity, especially a slickly-dressed man offering goods at bargain prices...
", because of his pencil-thin moustache, margarine
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...
-coated hair, and pork-pie hat, but the young Lennon called him "Twitchy" because of a physical tic
Tic
A tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups. Tics can be invisible to the observer, such as abdominal tensing or toe crunching. Common motor and phonic tics are, respectively, eye blinking and throat clearing...
and nervous cough Dykins had. Although Julia never divorced Alfred Lennon, she was the Common-law
Common-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
wife of Dykins, although Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
admitted to being sarcastic
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
to Lennon about his mother living in sin while Julia was still married.
Julia's sister, Mimi, called Julia and Dykins' home—at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool—"The House of Sin" and her own house (where Lennon lived) "The House of Correction". When Jacqui was born prematurely
Premature birth
In humans preterm birth refers to the birth of a baby of less than 37 weeks gestational age. The cause for preterm birth is in many situations elusive and unknown; many factors appear to be associated with the development of preterm birth, making the reduction of preterm birth a challenging...
on 26 October 1949, Julia went back to the hospital every day to see her, although she was often not allowed (by Mimi) to visit Lennon.
Dykins later managed several bars in Liverpool, which allowed Julia to stay at home at Blomfield Road, to look after Baird, Jacqui, a cat named "Elvis
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
", and the 11-year-old Lennon, who had started to visit and occasionally stayed overnight. Baird would give up her bed to Lennon, and share Jacqui's double bed. Dykins used to give Lennon weekly pocket money
Allowance (money)
An allowance is an amount of money set aside for a designated purpose.Allowing another person to have some money is often referred to as an allowance.-Construction contracting:...
(one shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
) for doing odd jobs, such as collecting golf balls on the local course, on top of the five shillings that Lennon's Aunt Mimi gave him. During Lennon's visits, he would climb trees with Baird and Jacqui, test Baird's spelling, and once gave Baird half-a-crown to leave him alone when he wanted to kiss his first girlfriend. Baird remembered that after Lennon had visited them, her mother would often play a record called, My Son John, To Me You Are So Wonderful, "by some old crooner
Crooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
, and sit and listen to it". "My Son John"—sung by David Whitfield
David Whitfield
David Whitfield was a popular British male tenor vocalist. This operatic-style tenor had a formidable and predominantly female fan base in the 1950s.-Life and career:...
—was released in 1956. Although Mimi sent Lennon to his Aunt's croft
Croft (land)
A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer.- Etymology :...
in Sango Bay, Durness
Durness
Durness is a huge but remote parish in the northwestern Highlands of Scotland, encompassing all the land between the Moine to the East and the Gualin to the West...
, Scotland, for his holidays, he later persuaded Mimi to let him take short holidays in North Wales with the Dykins family. Julia took Baird and Jacqui to Rosebury Street, Liverpool, to watch Lennon play with The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, initially formed in Liverpool in 1956, that eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960...
on the back of a flatbed
Flatbed truck
A flatbed truck is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, it has an entirely flat, level 'bed' body with no sides or roof...
coal truck on 22 June 1957. Baird was allowed to sit on the back, but as the music was too loud she asked to be taken off. The Quarrymen played twice that day as part of a celebration to mark the 750th anniversary of the granting of Liverpool’s charter by King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
. Lennon and McCartney would later rehearse in the bathroom of Blomfield Road because they said the acoustics "sounded like a recording studio".
Legal guardian
Baird's mother was struck and killed on 15 July 1958, just outside Mimi's home, by a Standard VanguardStandard Vanguard
The car used a conventional chassis on which was mounted the American inspired semi-streamlined four-door body, which resembles a Plymouth. Suspension was independent at the front with coil springs and a live axle and leaf springs at the rear. Front and rear anti-roll bars were fitted. The brakes...
car driven by an off-duty constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
, PC Eric Clague, who was a learner-driver
L-plate
An L-plate is a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in many countries if its driver is a learner under instruction, or a motorcycle rider with provisional entitlement to ride restricted motorcycles.- Australia :In...
. Clague later said: "Mrs Lennon just ran straight out in front of me. I just couldn't avoid her. I was not speeding, I swear it. It was just one of those terrible things that happen." Baird and Jacqui (aged eleven and eight respectively) were sent straightway to stay in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
at Aunt Mater's, and were not allowed to attend the funeral. They were told two months later by Norman Birch (Lennon's uncle) that their mother had died. Lennon's Aunt Harriet and Uncle Norman Birch were made legal guardians of the girls—ignoring Dykins' parentage, as he had never legally married Julia. Julia was buried in the Allerton Cemetery
Allerton Cemetery
Purchase of the land for Allerton Cemetery was completed in October 1906, the Church of England section was consecrated by the Bishop of Liverpool on 24 September 1909, and the first burial in the cemetery took place on 29 December 1909...
, in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. Her gravesite is unmarked, and over the years its location was forgotten until it was recently identified by Jacqui as "CE (Church of England) 38-805".
Baird and Jacqui were taken to live with the Birches and their son at The Dairy Cottage, which was owned by Mimi's husband, George Smith
George Smith (John Lennon)
George Toogood Smith was the maternal uncle, through marriage, of John Lennon. Smith operated his family's two dairy farms and a retail outlet with his brother, Frank Smith, in the village of Woolton, Liverpool...
. At the age of 14 Baird was allowed to go into Liverpool city centre by herself, where she drank cappuccino
Cappuccino
A cappuccino is an Italian coffee drink prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam. The name comes from the Capuchin friars, referring to the colour of their habits.- Definition :...
coffee in the Kardomah Coffee House, although Baird and her friends called it "frothy coffee". At 16, Baird started to hitch-hike
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
to London, although her Aunt never knew, as she would never have allowed it. Baird talked about the trips to London, and how relatively safe they were: "Hitching was easy then. It was a way of life. Everything was becoming more free. We'd start chatting to people in the Tube station and get invited to parties. People always gave us a place to stay - we were never harmed."
Baird and Jacqui were asked to visit Lennon at Kenwood which was his home in Weybridge in 1964. Cynthia Lennon
Cynthia Lennon
Cynthia Lillian Lennon is the former wife of musician John Lennon, and mother of Julian Lennon. She grew up in the middle-class section of Hoylake, on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England. At the age of twelve, she was accepted into the Junior Art School, and was later enrolled in the...
—Lennon's wife at the time—took them both out shopping in Knightsbridge, buying them expensive clothes. During the same visit, The Beatles played at the Finsbury Park Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
, and the sisters asked to be allowed to stand near the front, but had to be pulled out of the audience by security guards because of the crush. In December 1965, Dykins was killed in a car crash at the bottom of Penny Lane. Lennon was not told about his death for months afterwards. Dykins had married again, but Baird acknowledges that she and Jacqui had very little contact with his wife, and did not attend their father's funeral.
In 1968, Lennon was told The Dairy Cottage was too cramped for them all, so he told Birch to buy a house, and he found a 4-bedroom house in Gateacre Park Drive, Liverpool. Lennon told Birch to furnish and decorate it, and to send all the bills to him. The Dykinses heard nothing from Lennon for years, until he phoned Baird in 1975, and asked for mementos
Souvenir
A souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
of his childhood life, such as his school tie and photographs. He sent £3,000 to cover the cost of shipping and as a gift, but wrote, "Don't tell Mimi". Lennon continued to call Baird until 1976, when the calls stopped. Jacqui worked as a shop assistant during the 1970s, but battled against a heroin addiction. In the 1980s, and fully recovered, Jacqui gave birth to her son, John, later working as a hairstylist.
After Lennon and Harriet died, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
wanted to sell the house—as it was still in Lennon's name—but later gave it to the Salvation Army on 2 November 1993, even though Lennon had once written: "I always thought of the house he's in [Birch] as my contribution towards looking after Julia [Baird] and Jacqui. I would prefer the girls to use it."
Later years
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Philosophy of Education
Philosophy of education
Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education....
, and during her time there she spent a year out in France, hitch-hiked around Europe, and protested against the war in Vietnam in Paris alongside Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
. Baird later taught French and English before working as a special needs teacher
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
with teenagers in deprived areas of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, until she retired to write books and become a director of Cavern City Tours.
Baird and Jacqui later met their half-sister Ingrid Pederson for the first time when they were present at the ceremony to place a Blue Heritage plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
on Mimi's house, commemorating the fact that Lennon had lived there. Baird and Jacqui had only recently found out who Pederson was, after being told by journalist Bill Smithies of the Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...
newspaper. Baird was shocked that Pederson did not look anything like the Stanley or the Lennon family, as she had pale blue eyes and fair hair.
After releasing the book, John Lennon, My Brother—written with Giuliano, and a foreword
Foreword
A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
by McCartney—Baird travelled to New York during 1989 to appear at a Beatles' convention, and was asked if she could prove she was really Lennon's half-sister. Baird declined, saying she was not going to produce her passport, and the audience would just have to take her word for it. In 2000, Baird was present at the unveiling of six road signs, erected on major routes into Liverpool, saying, "Liverpool welcomes you - to the birthplace of THE BEATLES", and in October she planted a tree in Liverpool's Peace Gardens to commemorate Lennon's birthday.
Baird stopped working and retired in 2004, and published a book called Imagine This - Growing up with my brother John Lennon, in February 2007. Baird and Jacqui have both publicly said they wished Lennon had "never seen a guitar", and Baird can not listen to Lennon's music, as she finds it too upsetting.
From 28 to 30 September 2007, Durness held the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival which was attended by Baird (who read from Lennon's writings and her own books) and Stanley Parkes (Lennon's Scottish cousin). Parkes said, "Me and Julia [Baird] are going to be going to the old family croft
Croft (land)
A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer.- Etymology :...
to tell stories". Musicians, painters and poets from across the UK performed at the festival. Baird now lives in Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
with her partner, Roger Keys.
Baird claims she was never told that her mother was buried in the Allerton Cemetery
Allerton Cemetery
Purchase of the land for Allerton Cemetery was completed in October 1906, the Church of England section was consecrated by the Bishop of Liverpool on 24 September 1909, and the first burial in the cemetery took place on 29 December 1909...
, in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, although the graveyard's location is approximately 1.19 miles east of 1 Blomfield Road. The gravesite is unmarked, but was recently identified as "CE (Church of England) 38-805". Baird said the Stanley family hope to finally put a headstone on her mother's grave at some point, but hopes that it will be a private affair for the family and not for the public.