July 15, 1958 - John Lennon's mother Julia was struck and killed by a Standard Vanguard car, driven by an off-duty constable, PC Eric Clague, who was a learner-driver. John was 17 at the time. Julia visited her sister Mimi's house nearly every day, where they would chat over tea and cakes. On the evening of 15 July 1958, Nigel Walley (one of John's bandmates in The Quarrymen) went to visit Lennon and found Julia and Mimi talking by the front gate. Lennon was not there. Walley accompanied Julia to the bus stop further north along Menlove Avenue, with her telling jokes along the way. At about 9:30, Walley left her to walk up Vale Road and she crossed Menlove Avenue. Five seconds later, Walley heard "a loud thud", and turned to see her body "flying through the air"—which landed about 100 feet from where she had been hit. He ran back to get Mimi and they waited for the ambulance, with Mimi crying hysterically. Clague was acquitted of all charges and given a short suspension from duty. When Mimi heard the verdict she was so incensed that she shouted "Murderer!" at Clague. In 1998 Clague said: Mrs Lennon just ran straight out in front of me. I just couldn’t avoid her. I was not speeding, I swear it. It was just one of those terrible things that happen. Lennon could not bring himself to look at his mother's corpse when he was taken to the Sefton General Hospital, and was so distraught that he put his head on Mimi's lap throughout the funeral service. Lennon refused to talk to Walley for months afterwards, and Walley felt that Lennon somehow held him responsible. Julia was buried in Allerton Cemetery, in Liverpool. Clague later left the police force and became a postman. Coincidentally, in 1964, part of his round was to deliver bags of fan mail to the McCartney house at 20 Forthlin Road. Clague said: At the height of The Beatles’ fame I used to deliver hundreds of cards and letters to the house. I remember struggling up the path with them all. But of course they just reminded me of John Lennon and his mother. #johnlennon #julialennon #ericclague #nigelwalley #thisdayinmusic #1950s #rip #restinpeace
