Paul McCartney is born

Paul McCartney was born on 18 June 1942.

James Paul McCartney was born at Liverpool Walton Hospital. His mother Mary had previously worked there as a nurse in the maternity ward.

He looked awful. I couldn’t get over it. Horrible. He had one eye open, and he just squawked all the time. They held him up and he looked like a piece of red meat. When I got home I cried, the first time for years and years.

But the next day, he looked more human. He turned out a lovely baby in the end.

Jim McCartney

In 1947 McCartney began attending Stockton Wood Road Primary school, before moving on to Joseph Williams Junior School. He passed his 11 Plus exam in 1953 and attained a place at the Liverpool Institute.

Paul McCartney childhood photograph, 1940s

In 1954, while riding on the bus to the Institute, he met George Harrison, who lived nearby.

The following year the McCartneys moved to 20 Forthlin Road, now owned by the National Trust.

On 31 October 1956 Mary McCartney died of an embolism following a mastectomy. She had been suffering from breast cancer.

McCartney’s father Jim was a pianist and trumpet player who encouraged Paul and his brother Mike to become musical. He bought Paul a trumpet, which was swapped for a £15 Framus Zenith acoustic guitar when skiffle became a national craze.

Page last updated: 26 May 2020

Also on this day...

Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.

8 thoughts on “Paul McCartney is born”

  1. The above map is showing the wrong hospital. This is the Walton Neuro Centre which moved from Walton Hospital to Fazakerley Hospital after Walton Hospital closed. McCartney waas born in Walton Hospital on Rice Lane Liverpool

  2. I can’t believe he was rejected from a choir when he was a little boy! I’m serious! Look it up. But I’m very happy he got 90% in Latin!

    1. His dad says that Paul deliberately cracked his voice in defiance because he didn’t want to be part of the choir. (Not because he couldn’t sing)

  3. Mother Nature’s Son

    I have it on good authority that the person we think of as paul mccartney was actually called Phillip Higginbottom until he was 15 and changed his name by deepoll. He didn’t even study Latin, or attend school except on Thursday. He once was bought a tuba by his uncle Wendy,:which he exchanged for a ukulele from a shop in Fiver
    Lane, Nottty Ash. Amazed at how few people actually know the truth like what I do.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top