Did John ever find out about his sister Victoria/Ingrid? | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Hi @LonelyHeart. Welcome to the forum!

Victoria/Ingrid found out about the Lennon family connection in 1966, but didn’t go public due to loyalty to her adoptive parents. There’s some more information on this page.

John was four when Victoria was born, and I’ve read that he was unaware of her existence. It would have been quite difficult for Julia to hide a pregnancy and birth from her son (four-year-olds tend to be curious) but I *think* John was living with Mimi by that point so it could feasibly have been kept from him.

Julia Baird was told of her half-sister during an interview with Liverpool Echo journalist Bill Smithies. She explains it in this BBFC interview:

How did you first hear about Victoria/Ingrid“That was Bill Smithies from the Liverpool Echo, the features editor then. He was trying to set the story straight, and within a short time he mentioned about the four children, and I just looked at him, and straight away he said, “you don’t know, do you?” I said “No, what are you talking about, are you saying there are four of us?” He said, “Julia , your mother had four children, and I can see you don’t know. I’m going.” He was a lovely man, and gave me his number to ring him when I was ready to talk. I went straight out of the house, grabbed the little fella and had to do three visits to Nanny in Rock Ferry. I said, “Nanny, I’m going to come again and again until you tell me the truth. I’ve been told by a complete stranger.”

You met Ingrid, didn’t you?“It was so strange when she turned up. Stan (Julia ‘s cousin) and I were at Mendips putting up the Blue Heritage Plaque. It was a really nice day and he turned round and quietly spoke – we were concerned he was going to fall off the ladder – “I think I can see Ingrid”. “What?”, I said. “Ingrid, she’s over there”. We got down the ladder and there she was walking up the road with a friend. The first thing I did was look at her. John and I look alike, my sister and I look alike – some people even think we’re twins – so the genes are really strong. Green or brown eyes: my father and mother had brown eyes – I don’t know about Alf – and we’re a redheaded family, and we also look like John. I thoroughly and absolutely expected Ingrid to look like me John and Jackie, but she looks nothing like us. She has pale blue eyes and fair hair, so I was scrutinising her right off, and I was in a state of shock: she doesn’t look like me, she doesn’t look like John. You build up a mental image, because of the “halfness” of John and Jackie and I, and yet we look the same, the strong gene. Obviously, Ingrid must favour her father more. Our father was very dark, so different.”