Born in Blackpool on 10 September 1939 Cynthia Powell
grew up first in Liverpool before moving to Hoylake, the Wirral,
at the outbreak of the Second World War. She has two elder brothers,
Tony and Charles.
Cynthia attended the Junior Art School in Liverpool
from the age of 12. When she was 18 she began her course at Liverpool
College of Art which is where she first met John
Lennon. Initially she was wary of him - he was quite different
to any other young man she had met - scruffy, disruptive in class
and just a bit rough around the edges.
At an end of term dance John asked Cynthia to dance
and that was the beginning of their eight years together. They were
virtually inseparable until John and the Beatles went to Hamburg
in 1960.
On their return Cynthia found herself pregnant. John
asked her to marry him and the ceremony took place at Mount Pleasant
Register Office on 23 August 1962 with Brian Epstein as best man.
John's family refused to attend. Brian Epstein treated everyone
to a wedding breakfast at Reece's Restaurant in Clayton Square and
as a wedding present gave the newly-weds the use of his private
apartment.
The Beatles were on the brink of fame and away working
nearly every night; added to that Brian insisted that the marriage
remain a secret, so Cynthia was left by herself most of the time.
After complications arose with the pregnancy Cynthia
moved out of Epstein's apartment and in with John's Aunt
Mimi. Their son Julian was
born at 7.45 am on 8 April 1963. It was a week before John saw his
son.
Initially Cynthia and baby Julian moved back in with
Mimi, but after a few months Cynthia took up her mother, Lillian's,
invitation to come and live with her at Hoylake. John and the Beatles
continued to tour. Before long though the secret of John and Cynthia's
marriage and the birth of their baby was out in the open. They moved
to London, but the fans found out where they lived and they were
besieged. Eventually the family moved to 'Kenwood', Weybridge in
July 1964.
Cynthia believes that it was LSD that caused the beginning
of the end of their marriage. Now Yoko had entered their lives and
in August 1968 Cynthia filed for divorce. The divorce was granted
on 8 November 1968. Cynthia was only 28.
Two years later Cynthia married Italian hotelier,
Roberto Bassanini. The marriage lasted three years and after that
she decided to return to Cheshire. She and Julian settled in a cottage
in Ruthin, North Wales. In 1976 Cynthia married John Twist, an engineer
from Lancashire. They were together for five years. After this Cynthia
changed her name back to Lennon by deed poll.
By 1984 Cynthia was living near Penrith in Cumbria
with a new partner, Liverpudlian Jim Christie.
Over the years Cynthia has worked on several projects
including running several restaurants, designing textiles and clothes.
She wrote her autobiography 'A Twist Of Lennon' in 1978, which featured
her unique pen and ink drawings. In recent years Cynthia has returned
to her career as an artist. In 1999 she and her long time friend
Phyllis McKenzie held an exhibition of their work at a London gallery.
Presently Cynthia lives in Europe with her partner
Noel Charles.
John
Lennon | Julian Lennon
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