Why Paul McCartney’s Mom Received VIP Treatment at the Hospital When She Gave Birth to the Future Beatle
Paul McCartney is certainly used to receiving VIP treatment now. But he actually popped out of the womb in a room that was better than all the others at Walton General Hospital. Here’s the story of McCartney’s birth as well as a look at who his parents were.
Who were Paul McCartney’s parents?
Paul’s father was James McCartney, a musician and ladies man until he decided to settle down at the age of 39. During the day, Jim was a salesman at the Cotton Exchange. But at night and on weekends, he was the leader of a well-known Liverpool swing band called the Jim Mac Jazz Band.
McCartney’s mother was Mary Patricia Mohin, who was “a good Irish Catholic girl who was a trained nurse and midwife,” according to the Beatles biography The Love You Make by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines.
Jim and Patricia married in 1941 when he was 39 and she was 32. Almost immediately, Patricia became pregnant with their first child, Paul.
The story of Paul McCartney’s birth
Paul’s father was not present at his birth. At the time, he was working at an aircraft engine factory (exempt from serving in the war due to a hearing problem). At night, he was on “fire watch” because of the bombings.
Paul’s birth took place on the night of June 18, 1942 at Walton General Hospital. Since Mary used to be the head nurse in the maternity ward, she was given VIP treatment when it came time to give birth, including her own private room.
When Jim finally did make it to the hospital, he was unsettled at the look of his crying, newborn baby. He thought baby Paul looked “like a horrible piece of red meat,” according to TLYM.
When Jim returned home from the hospital he reportedly “cried for the first time in years.”
The Beatle’s childhood homes
During Paul’s early life, he and his family moved around quite a bit before they found somewhere to settle in. Jim jumped around from job to job in an effort to provide for the McCartney family. Eventually, the family landed in a home that was in the same neighborhood as Paul’s future bandmate. Kismet.
When the musician’s father worked with the Corporation Cleansing Department as an inspector (a position in which he followed the street dustmen around to ensure proper cleaning), they lived in Anfield in a furnished room. Then, they moved to Knowsley Estate, Wallasey, where they lived in a council house. After that, they moved to Speke to live in another council house, this time free-of-rent thanks to Mary’s midwife job at the local housing development medical facility. Finally, when Paul was 13, the family moved to a slightly improved neighborhood in Allerton at 20 Forthlin Road. And this house happened to be a little over a mile from the house a young John Lennon was living in with his aunt Mimi Smith.
