Mimi Smith
| Mimi Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Mary Elizabeth Stanley 24 April 1906 Liverpool, England |
| Died | 6 December 1991 (aged 85) Poole, Dorset, England |
| Occupation | Nurse, secretary, homemaker |
| Spouse(s) | George Smith |
| Children | None (Parental Guardian of John Lennon) |
| Parent(s) | George Stanley Annie Stanley (née Millward) |
Mary Elizabeth "Mimi" Smith (née Stanley; 24 April 1906 – 6 December 1991) was the maternal aunt and parental guardian of the English musician, John Lennon. Mimi Stanley was born in Liverpool, England; the oldest of five daughters. She became a resident trainee nurse at the Woolton Convalescent Hospital, and later worked as a private secretary. On 15 September 1939, she married George Smith, who ran his family's dairy farm and a shop in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool.
After her younger sister, Julia Lennon, separated from her husband, she and her son (Lennon), moved in with a new partner, but Mimi contacted Liverpool's Social Services and complained about him sleeping in the same bed as the two adults. Julia was eventually persuaded to hand the care of Lennon over to the Smiths. Lennon lived with the Smiths for most of his childhood, and remained close to his aunt, even though she was highly dismissive of his musical ambitions, his girlfriends, and wives.
She often told the teenage Lennon: "The guitar's all right John, but you'll never make a living out of it". In 1965, Lennon bought her a bungalow in Poole, Dorset, where she lived until her death in 1991. Despite later losing touch with other family members, Lennon kept in close contact and telephoned her every week, until his death in 1980. The Smiths' house in Liverpool was later donated to The National Trust.
According to Lennon, the Stanley family once owned the whole of Woolton village.William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby did once own the manorial rights to Woolton but Lennon's Stanley family were from humbler origins and only came to Liverpool in the 1870s. Mimi's grandfather was born in Birmingham and her great grandfather was born in London. Mimi's father, George Ernest Stanley, was born in the Everton district of Liverpool in 1874 to William Henry Stanley and Eliza Jane Gildea. George's mother, Eliza Jane Gildea, was from Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland. By 1891 the Stanleys were living in Upper Frederick Street, south of the city centre, in the same inner city area of Liverpool as the family of George's future wife, Annie Millward. Mimi's mother, Annie Jane Millward, was born in Chester in 1873, to Welsh parents. George Ernest Stanley and Annie Millward were married at St Peter's Church, Liverpool on 19 November 1906. Stanley was a merchant seaman often away at sea so was absent from some census records.
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