The Royal William

Liverpool owed its rapid growth in the 18th and 19th centuries to the shipping trade. It should come as no surprise that the Beatles benefited from this industry. The instruments that they would receive from America and the word of changes in popular music would arrive, at least in part, via ships. It is somewhat ironic, that the very vehicle that would give the Beatles the tools they needed to develop their music also limited the personal growth of their leader. John's father, Fred Lennon, was employed in the sea trade, a vocation that would estrange him from his son's critical stages of child development. Fred's employment would also figure centrally in his divorce from Julia Lennon. These difficult early beginnings for John would be revealed in his lack of confidence, difficulty with authority and problems with self-esteem and belongingness that would become evident in his personality and expressed through his music.