Cynthia & (Some of) the Stanley Sisters

Mater, Harrie, Mimi, and Cynthia circa 1965

Aside from Mimi, Cynthia got on better with her sisters, Elizabeth (Mater), Anne (Nanny), and Harriet (Harrie). Harrie lived nearby to Mimi; she was the youngest of the Stanley sisters and the family's baby-sitter. She had two children of her own, Leila (from a previous marriage, her husband died while Leila was a toddler) and David. After Julia died, Harrie became the guardian of Julia and Jacqui. John took Cynthia to meet his Aunt and sisters who liked Cynthia right away.

“She was someone who came into our lives when John was in his teens. Mimi's house, Mendips, was about a half a mile from our own, and John would visit all the time, coming round especially to call Cynthia on our phone- one of those old black ones with a round dial and curly cord. We’d only know he was there because the receiver would disappear into the garden behind the hedge. She also came to our house where they’d sit together, hold hands, and snog- which he wouldn't have dared do at Mimi's- while Jacqui and I peeped and giggled. At Mendips, I remember him looking out of the window for the bus she was on.”

Julia Baird, 1998

“I met John the year after his mother was killed in a road accident, and the girls I first met 2 years later. They were all bereaved and when the girls’ father was also killed by a car, they were even more vulnerable. They were orphaned but getting on with their lot because they had no alternative. The family was very close and tight-knit, and the family females very strong. So one way or another they all looked after the girls, though their Aunt Harrie formally their guardian took them to live at her cottage in Woolton. I remember them coming home from school in gymslips and satchels, two lovely girls who at the time seemed so much younger than I was- though of course the few years mean nothing now. Harriet's house was very small, which is one reason why John and I began to talk endlessly about buying them a house of their own.”

Cynthia, 1998

More about Julia and Jacqui in another post. After Harrie died in 1972, Cynthia attended her funeral.

The middle child of the Stanley sisters was Anne Georgina, AKA Nanny. She had one son, Michael, while being a career woman. Not really much is known about Cynthia and Nanny’s relationship other than they getting along. However, Nanny was part of Mimi's tag team to convince John not to marry a pregnant Cynthia. Nanny did visit John and Cynthia in their mansion in Weybridge later on. I believe it was Nanny who told John that he had another sister, Victoria Elizabeth, who was given up for adoption in 1964; John attempted his lifetime search for his sister but no luck. She also told Julia some interesting family secrets in her last years. Nanny died in 1997.

Mater, Cynthia, and Julian in a park, Weybridge 1967

Photographed by Dorothy Jarlett

The second eldest was Elizabeth Anne, AKA Mater. She lived in Scotland and had one son, Stanley who was the eldest of the cousins. Mater and Cynthia were close. John took Cynthia hitchhiking up to Scotland to meet Mater after some time of dating. Mater was another Weybridge visitor. Whenever London got too much for Cynthia, she would take the train to Scotland where they spoke everything under the sun while drinking Mater’s husband's whiskey.

John, Julian, Kyoko, and Yoko in Scotland, 1969

After John and Cynthia divorced and he remarried to Yoko in 1969, they decided on a spur-of-the-moment to travel up to Scotland with their children Julian and Kyoko. They visited Mater who made a roast for dinner, but John and Yoko refused because of their diet so Yoko made their dinner much to Mater's dismay. Needless to say, Mater was not a Yoko fan. She criticised John over his appearance and recent public antics. John got agitated. At one point, John mentioned to Mater that he was going to take Julian away from Cynthia. Because Mater was fond of Cynthia, she objected and under no certain terms would he do such a thing. That seemed to have been the final straw for John to cut the unexpected visit short and stormed off with Yoko, Julian, and Kyoko in tow. Soon, they were in a car accident and taken to the hospital. Julian was the least hurt and Mater went to get him under her care with John's consent (despite being pissed off but I don't think he had much of a choice). Cynthia wasn't aware of the Scotland trip until she saw the news of the accident and immediately went to get Julian from Mater. Mater died in 1976 with Cynthia attending the funeral.