On her return Cynthia found out that her mother was emigrating to Canada. He once slapped her face after she had dances with Sutcliffe, which led to them breaking up for three months until Lennon apologised profusely. They would often have sex in alleys or doorways, and Lennon often showed jealousy towards her.

The early days of their relationship were turbulent. She pretended to be engaged to Barry, which angered Lennon – he stormed off, shouting: “I didn’t ask you to fucking marry me, did I?” Although she went to the pub, Lennon ignored her until she was about to leave, whereupon he grabbed her hand, took her to a room rented by Stuart Sutcliffe, and the pair had sex for the first time. They began a relationship before the summer holidays in 1958, when Lennon invited her to the Ye Cracke pub with him and some friends after a college party. She also dyed her hair blonde after hearing him comment favourably about another girl who looked like Brigitte Bardot – when Lennon saw her, he called out: “Get you, Miss Hoylake!” She changed her style of dressing, and often didn’t wear her glasses. Although he wasn’t her normal type, Cynthia felt drawn towards him. She met John Lennon in a lettering class at college, when he tapped her on the back and said, “Hi, I’m John”. Although they discussed marriage, their relationship waned when he was unfaithful to her. A diligent student, she fell into a relationship with a boy called Barry whom she described as the “Romeo of Hoylake”.

Lillian Powell, meanwhile, eased the financial pressure without her husband by renting out their master bedroom to four apprentice electricians.Ĭynthia started at Liverpool College of Art in September 1957. Before her father died of lung cancer in 1956, he told her she would have to support her mother, and couldn’t go to the art college. Cynthia was raised in the well-to-do area of Hoylake, Wirral, across the river Mersey from Liverpool.Īt the age of 12 she gained a place at the Junior Art School, near to the Liverpool College of Art. She was born to Charles and Lillian Powell, and had two older brothers, Anthony (Tony) and Charles.

John lennon and cynthia lennon