College Friends

Cynthia with her art college friends: Cynthia, Phyllis, Ann, Annette, and Jenny in June of 1961

Additional Quotes: Dating to Marriage

“My impression when I first met John- he was outrageous. At art school, his work was innovative- totally different from everybody's else's. I was an art student who followed the rules, but John wanted to break all the rules, and that's what made him such an individual and such a terror. With John, there was an element of fear. He really quite frightened people, including me in the beginning, because of his attitude. He was rough-ready, and not my type at all, to start with. But this enigmatic character you couldn't resist. He walked around without his glasses, because you know there were lots of rough characters in Liverpool, and wearing glasses he would be picked on. And because he couldn't see, he felt that he was being attacked, so he was always on the run. Even though he’d come from the middle-class, his dress was very Teddy Boy, his hair slicked back with grease, no glasses, a guitar slung over his shoulder, and a look that said 'kill’... I think after losing his mum- which had only just been a year before I met him- his whole world had collapsed and this was his battle. He was a mixture of war and peace. There was a lot of battling, and the peace eventually came out.”

Cynthia, 1988

“Well, for me, he wasn't because I was brought up very conservatively and John was the exact opposite. John was a Teddy Boy. He was a rebel. He was outrageous. That was something I hadn't experienced before the age that I was,which was about 16 or 17. I’d had quite a normal, straight-forward life. There was something about John that fascinated me. I just wanted to know him more. I didn't know about anything. I just instantly attracted to him.”

Cynthia

“When she took a shine to him, it did his confidence no end of good. And that calmed him down letting us live and learn in peace.”

Ann Mason

“John was absolutely the dominant figure in that relationship. He was like most Scouse men, who demanded a subservient mate. Cynthia was a doormat. But she was very influential in keeping him under control.”

Bill Harry

"The Beatles, by this time, were surrounded by girl's. Except for John, they dropped their steady girls and started dating their fans, although I must say it was kept reasonably discreet. There were many rumors about who was going with who."
Bernadette Farrell, Cavern Club regular and George Harrison's girlfriend, 1989

“I watched his face drain of all its color, and fear and panic creep into his eyes. He was speechless for what seemed like an age. 'There’s only one thing for it, Cyn, we’ll have to get married.’”

Cynthia

“John was a typical Northern male of the time. He didn't do much about the house but then being a typical Northern girl, I didn't expect him to. I was happy enough battling with the washing and ironing and teaching myself to cook. I’m afraid I wasn't much good in the kitchen but fortunately John was easy to please.”

Cynthia, 1994

Opposites Attract

John and Cynthia outside Liverpool College of Art in the Spring of 1960 with Jon Hague (behind Cynthia) and Tony Carricker (behind John).

John and Cynthia were different from each other like night and day. Once they became a couple, the people around them scratched their heads in puzzlement and certain that the relationship wouldn't last. From their first impressions, Cynthia thought John was rude, disgusting, arrogant, and he scared her; John thought Cynthia was posh, snobby, trim and proper. Yet John also thought she was attractive- Brigitte Bardot potential type. John liked to joke around, play hooky from school while Cynthia was a serious student with a sweet heart. He dressed in leather, she dressed in cotton. She came on time for their dates, he would arrive late. They had very few things in common.

• John and Cynthia lost a parent as teenagers.
• John and Cynthia had poor eyesight.
• John and Cynthia were book readers.

They were both well aware of this- yet it worked for awhile. They balanced it out. Cynthia became an important person in John's life, along with Stuart Sutcliffe, Paul McCartney, and his Aunt Mimi Smith. Despite their objections, many believed that Cynthia was a positive influence for John.

“When I met him a few months later, he had a great chip on his shoulder.”

Cynthia

“He had finally found someone who took the edge off his anger.”

Jon Hague

“I was immediately struck by how different this attractive, well-bred, young woman was from all the lowlife scrubbers John had lately been associating with. Cyn proved to be exceptionally polite and and almost painfully shy, and I couldn't help but think she was perhaps too fragile a flower to be in John's hands. But if John ever seriously mistreated her, I was never aware of it first hand, and Cyn’s unwavering devotion certainly helped to exercise some of the pain of Julia’s loss.”

Pete Shotton, 1983

“I’d thought she'd be good for him, temper his aggression. I knew she'd have to tailor herself into looking like Brigitte Bardot for him, and I remember reflecting on the fact that he teased her so much about being so proper. I remember thinking, 'He’s got what he wanted again.’”

Thelma Pickles, 1985

“Cynthia was a catch for John. She could have had anyone she wanted. She had lovely eyes and the most beautiful pale skin. And she was the sweetest, nicest person you could ever meet.”

Ann Mason

“She was very pretty Bardot-like, and I enjoyed looking across the canteen at her. It was certainly surprising that a girl like Cynthia had been caught by this shit called Lennon. They looked at each other adoringly. They were totally fixated.”

Michael Isaacson, 1985

“John's friends were a bit put off though. Cynthia was far too respectable to fit into the image of a rock 'n’ roller’s moll. John had his own ideas about his perfect woman.”

Julia Baird

There were noticeable changes in John and Cynthia, individually, personality, and appearance. John started wearing more suits (that belonged to his late Uncle George Smith) along with his leather. As for Cynthia, well, that deserves her own blog post! During the lusting and attraction stage, John hid his giddiness and lovely dovey slop from his friends and family. Once they were officially a couple, John revealed his giddiness to those closest to him.

“About a fortnight after John and Cyn started going together, I happened to stop in at Mendips a few moments before she was due to turn up. Though I was expected elsewhere, John insisted that I stick around. 'You’ll want to see this one,’ he said, 'She’s not Brigitte, but she's really all right.’ I couldn't remember John ever having seemed so excited about a girl, he even kept running to his bedroom window to check whether Cynthia's bus arrived.”

Pete Shotton, 1983

“One day, not long after we had first met Cyn, I was at Mendips with John and he told me that Cyn was coming from town on the bus. I was 12 then and I was looking forward to seeing her again, wondering what arty studently clothes she would be wearing. Mendips is right on the main road, which meant that you could see the bus stop if you looked through the upstairs windows, which was why John ran up and down the stairs to his bedroom whenever he thought he heard a bus engine. You could hear whatever or not the bus stopped to let the passengers on or off. When the bus did indeed deposit Cynthia on the pavement, John shouted 'Yes!’ and then flung himself downstairs to watch for her coming through the gate. Then he sauntered through the kitchen, as if he didn't even know she was coming and he was bumping into her in his own garden by sheer good luck! I couldn't believe his cool. I loved it! Cynthia was dressed in black from head to toe, just like John. A couple of art students in love and looking like art students… in love. It was tangible.”

Julia Baird