The Household Help

There were quite a few on the Lennon household staff after John, Cynthia, and Julian moved to Kenwood in 1964. Most notably are Dorothy Jarlett (housekeeper), Les Anthony (chauffeur), and an unnamed grumpy gardener.

"John was away touring a lot of the time. I stayed behind with Julian and was happy to be with him. But it wasn't my sort of life. It brought me responsibilities that were more trouble than they were worth. I'd been happier with a small place that I could have looked after myself. If you could have seen the problems and the arguments and the petty jealousies that went on between the staff -- largely, I think, because I never felt confident in my handling of them. You have to be born to servants to be able to cope with them properly, and I certainly wasn't. I'd never make a good mistress of a large establishment. I've always made friends with anyone who's come to clean for me. I like to know all about them, and invariably it ends up with more gossip than work. I'm not good at giving orders. Instead of saying; 'You've to do such-and-such,' I'd said: 'Do you mind if' and water it all down so it didn't sound as if there was too much to do. Of course they knew I wasn't sure of myself and it was fatal. Now I refuse to have anyone come to do my cleaning. I prefer to do my own."

Cynthia, 1976

“I had to be a homemaker. I wasn’t used to servants. I used to clear up before the maid came in. I still do. It’s a mentality you can’t lose, that’s the way you’ve been brought up. But John didn’t care. His imagination had been allowed to run riot, it had to run riot to keep him sane. If he’d really thought about what had happened to him, he would have gone mad. I was happy just to keep it all together. I was never a great dreamer about being successful or famous or wealthy.”

Cynthia, 2005

-Bill Corbett was a chauffeur working for John when he, Cynthia, and Julian first moved to London in 1963 until 1964 before moving to Weybridge.

-Alf Bicknell was a chauffeur, mainly worked for The Beatles from 1964 until 1966, he was also part of their touring entourage. Her chauffeured John and Cynthia after it was announced that John was awarded for Members of the British Empire (MBE) for a news conference in 1965. Alf died in 2004.

-Jock was a chauffeur working for John when he, Cynthia, and Julian moved to Weybridge. John would let Jock have the car during off-hours until they realized that Jock was using the car as his home and to drink booze.

Dorothy Jarlett and her husband Bernard

-Dorothy Jarlett basically came with the house, worked for the previous tenant in Kenwood. Dot was married to Bernard and had two children, Barry and Anne. In August of 1964, Dot returned to Kenwood to be interviewed by Cynthia Lennon.

"They sent a car for me and I went up for an interview. Julian, just over a year old, was pottering around and a few days later they agreed to employ me. The previous owner of the mansion, an American lady with six children, recommended me for the job of housekeeper. When I got home I told my son, Barry, that I had an interview of a job with the new owners of Kenwood, a musician and his wife. He asked who it was, and I told him it was John and Cynthia Lennon. He said, 'Go! Mum, he's one of the Beatles!' Before they bought Kenwood, I was working for an American family there, helping with their children. Mrs. Lennon wanted somebody to take care of Julian and I was recommended as being good with children and the housekeeping. Kenwood was having a lot of work done to it and there were a lot of workmen about. Julian was toddling around in what they used to call Poddy Pants (nappies), not really dressed. After the interview, within 2 or 3 days, I received a card to say I had got the job. On my first morning I started at 9 AM and drove up there to Kenwood. At the time, the Lennons were living in the staff rooms, formerly the servants' quarters, and it was like a small apartment flat. My first morning when I got there, Mrs. Powell, Cynthia's mother, Cynthia and her brother Charles were well-dressed and prepared to go out in a chauffeur-driven car. I was surprised that they would leave me, a stranger, to take care of Julian and the house, but I guess the American lady must have given me a good report that I was good with children. And so I had Julian for the rest of the day. Julian's little sleeping cot was damp and there were no bed sheets, just woolen hand-knitted squares sewn together. I thought maybe it was a blanket the fans had sent them. Julian was still running around with a baby bottle. I found him some clothes, gave him a bath in the sink and then dressed him. He was a very good little boy and accepted me quickly. Mrs. Lennon, her mother, and her brother did not arrive back that first day until about 5:30 PM. The first time I met John was after his return from America. I was told that he didn't like people hanging around, and I would have to cope with him, but I found no problem with him being around the house. When I got to work at Kenwood, he was on the settee, looking very tired. He introduced himself to me, and I found him very nice. I always got along very well with John. He liked me looking after Julian, and I used to take his son down to my house to play with my daughter Anne and sometimes little Julian would spend the night with our family. John also visited our home and was always very considerate to me and my family. As the days went on, I found I was having other things to do besides looking after Julian, but he was almost always with me. I got to taking him out in my car for shopping, and took him home to my house to visit my family. I had a folding pram which I took around with me and everything seemed to work out very nicely, but it seemed at times to be a very long day. I was left to cope with just about everything at Kenwood. After the renovations and changes, the family moved out of the upstairs flat and occupied the rest of the house."

Dorothy Jarlett

"The housekeeper, Dot, was regarded as virtually a member of the family. A very pleasant, helpful, and easygoing woman of about forty, Dot was devoted to Julian, kept the house immaculate and the cupboards well-stocked with cat food and John's favorite breakfast cereals, helped Cyn with the cooking, and even took many of her meals with her boss, who insisted she called him by his Christian name."

Pete Shotton, 1983

Dot and her family became very close to the Lennon family; they even attended Cynthia's brother's wedding. The Jarletts were one of Julian's main baby-sitters; John even checked out their home and bought a slide for Julian whenever he stayed there. Barry and Anne also helped around the house, going through fanmail and other little odd jobs while Bernard painted and fixed up some rooms. Julian named the second family dog after Bernard. In 1968, things started to go downhill.

"Yet another casualty of Kenwood's new regime was the Lennons' devoted housekeeper, Dot Jarlett. A few days before Cyn's arrival home from her previous trip to Greece, Dot had informed Mrs. Powell of Yoko's overnight visits. When John learned of Dot's indescretion, he flew into one of his worst rages in years. 'What goes on in my house,' he shouted at her, 'is my business! You are here as my housekeeper, and you have no right to tell tales behind my back about anything that goes on here!' Cringing under this onslaught, Dot desperately tried to make amends. 'I'm sorry, John, I am sorry. I only wanted to do the right thing for you and Cyn.' 'Well, I don't like spies in my house. You don't work for Cyn, you work for me. I employ you, I pay your wages- and I don't any more. You're sacked!'"

Pete Shotton, 1983

"I was with the Lennons for about four years and experienced a lot of happenings, which included my family, and John looked on us for a lot of help at times. But he was often in London with the other Beatles. I used to have a lot of dealings with Peter Brown, their manager, and others in the London offices. Cynthia was on holiday with her mother and Julian when Yoko arrived at the house. I was there for only a short while after John left with Yoko. Contrary to remarks once make in a book, I was not given the sack by John. There were domestic issues and a pending divorce that made my life and loyalties very difficult and I made the sad decision to leave myself. My family and I have very fond memories of my years spent with the Lennons."

Dorothy Jarlett

In her second book, Cynthia wrote that she and Dot would keep in touch. I honestly don't know if they did but in the 1980s, Bernard sent Cynthia a note asking for a film reel. She responded back and gave back the film reel. Dot died in 2014.

-Unknown married couple of a chauffeur and a housekeeper/cook. Cynthia at first the idea was cozy when she hired them. It turned out to be a mistake: the woman and Dot did not get along, the man flirted with every woman he met, and their daughter left her husband and moved in with her parents. Accusations of dishonesty, violent threats, and sneaky revenge were too much for Cynthia to bare. Not only that, but when John was home, the woman would serve the kind of meals fit for the King (after all, it was John who signed their paychecks) while he was away, Cynthia and Julian were fed frozen chips, hamburgers, and peas. It wasn't long until the husband and wife duo, plus the daughter, were dismissed.

Les Anthony with John's newly psychedelic painted Rolls Royce outside of Kenwood, 1967

-Les Anthony was from Wales, worked as a Guardsman until becoming a chauffeur on call for 24 hours. He was married, but his duties with John ultimately ended his marriage.

"This is how Les Anthony got his job: One morning Les stopped me and asked if John needed a chauffeur. I said I thought so, as John had mentioned it to me. John was pleased when he met Les and he got the job, and he used to tell me about the long hours he sat waiting for John when the Beatles were recording. John used to leave me notes with little funny drawings, notes to arrange things when he was going into London for recording and meetings at the office. I used to deal a lot with the office and make his driving arrangements with Les, what time to pick him up or when to come to the house. Les Anthony was an imposing chap who was over six foot and an ex-guardsman."

Dorothy Jarlett

Les continued working for John until 1971 when John and Yoko moved to New York City. Once it was clear that John and Cynthia's marriage was over, Les solely worked for John with the exception of taking Cynthia to divorce court (John and Yoko were at the hospital during the miscarriage of their baby). Les did chauffeur Julian back and forth between John and Cynthia during his visits as well. Les died in 2020.

-Gardener was an elderly man who didn't get close to the family, he rather ignored them, and was particularly grumpy. However, he took extremely good care of the grounds of Kenwood.

-John Francis was a chauffeur used by Cynthia whenever Les was being used by John.

Pauline and Alfred

-Pauline Jones was a new girlfriend of Alfred Lennon, a teenager although legally an adult. Her mother disapproved of the relationship. After spending the night in Kenwood, she sat down with John and about her future with Alfred in 1967.

"I enjoyed a delicious sleep in one of the sumptuously furnished guest rooms, the best I had for months, and the next morning John and Cynthia sat down with me to discuss the problem of my mother's opposition to my relationship with Freddie. John was thoroughly indignant at the idea of any parent laying down the law to a girl of nineteen. 'Your mother must be out of her mind,' he remarked in disgusted tones. 'You can count on us to do anything we can to help.' 'Yes, and I think maybe we really can help,' added Cynthia, suddenly hitting on a brilliant idea. 'I've been thinking for some time of finding a mother's help. How would you like to come and live here and help me look after Julian- baby-sitting and that sort of thing? I'd pay you a small wage, you'd have your board and keep, and you'd be able to see Freddie whenever you wished.' To me the suggestion appeared as absolutely god-sent, but it was clear from the cutting look that passed from John to Cynthia that he was not so enamoured with the idea, although it was not until later that I discovered exactly why not. Cyn had an active social life of her own and had been trying to persuade John for some time to engage a nanny for Julian, which would give her much more freedom. But as John was understandable against the idea of a substitute mother for his son, having himself been parted from Julia at the age of six, they had reached a state of deadlock. Nothing more was said on the matter until later in the day, when it appeared that something of a compromise had been thrashed out. John was badly in need of secretarial help in handling the large amount of correspondence- mainly from fans- that arrived at Kenwood each morning. So I was to work for him as sort of correspondence clerk and I would provide Cynthia with baby-sitting services, not nannying as such but looking after Julian whenever she was out. That way both of them seemed happy."

Pauline Lennon Stone

Not even a year, by Christmas of 1967, Pauline resign and moved out to move in with Alfred and become John's stepmother.

"But despite the good times with Julian, there was very little for me to do at Weybridge. The fact that I couldn't type meant that I was really unsuitable to bethe secretary John really needed. I could have continued to help Dot with the housework, but my career ambitions caused me to feel dissatisfied with a post as an au pair. It was decided by mutual agreement that I would bid John and Cyn farewell after the festive season, and having spent Christmas as home I returned to Kenwood only once more, in order to collect my belongings."

Pauline Lennon Stone