James McCartney: What happened to Paul McCartney's father?

James McCartney is the father of Paul McCartney. James McCartney’s son is a British vocalist, songwriter, composer, bass player, poet, and painter. He is popular for his work with the Beatles in the 1960s helped lift popular music from its origins in the entertainment business and transform it into a creative, highly commercial art form. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most successful in modern music history. He is also regarded as one of the most popular solo performers of all time in terms of both sales of his recordings and attendance at his concerts.

James McCartney: Bio Summary

Who was Paul McCartney’s father?

James McCartney was born on July 7, 1902, at 8 Fishguard Street, Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. He was the son of Joseph McCartney and his wife Florence Clegg. James was not the only child of the couple. He has siblings-  John William McCartney, Edith Cathleen McCartney, Florence Mildred (McCartney) Kendall, Annie (McCartney) Ormesher, and Jane (McCartney) Harris. The McCartneys are of  Irish descent.

James’ father Joseph was a tobacco cutter when he met and married Florence “Florrie” Clegg (born 2 June 1874) in the Christ Church, Kensington, Liverpool, on 17 May 1896. After their marriage, the couple started their family. Jim was the third eldest of seven children of the couple.

Young James left school at the age of 14 and found a job working for six shillings a week as a cotton “sample boy”, at A. Hanney & Co.; a cotton broker in Chapel Street, Liverpool. James McCartney survived Liverpool’s  68 air raids which killed or injured more than 4,500 of the population and destroyed more than 10,000 homes.

Paul McCartney’s parents met during an Air raid

During an air raid on Liverpool in 1940, James McCartney who was  38 years old, and had settled into what his friends thought was, “a confirmed bachelorhood” met his future wife Mary Patricia Mohin who was also a 31 years nurse and midwife too career-conscious to think of marriage and was thought of as a spinster.

A few months later James McCartney and Mary Patricia Mohin who were in love took out a marriage license at Liverpool Town Hall on 8 April 1941 and were married a week later at St. Swithin’s Roman Catholic chapel in Gillmoss, West Derby, on 15 April 1941.

ALSO, READ; Mary Patricia McCartney: The Tragic Death of Paul McCartney’s mother when he was 14

The couple started their family as soon as possible when she got pregnant with their first child- Paul McCartney. After the birth of their son, the couple decided to move out to find a new place. Since Jim’s work at Napier’s was classified as work for the Air Ministry they were eligible to move into a government-sponsored house and moved into 92 Broadway Avenue in Wallasey Village. Very soon they had their second child- Mike McCartney.

James McCartney had an influence on his son’s life

Paul McCartney confirmed that his father was a major influence on his life. ‘Never overdo it. Have a drink, but don’t be an alcoholic. Have a cigarette, but don’t be a cancer case,‘ he advised his son. The singer also revealed- “My Dad was a pianist by ear and then a trumpeter until his teeth gave out. He was a good pianist, you know, but he would never teach me, because he felt that you should learn properly. It was a bit of a drag, because a lot of people have said that I do chords a lot like he used to do. I’m sure I picked it up over the years.“

The singer went on to say that- “Dad used to play the cornet a lot, just for fun, at home. This was my earliest musical influence at, say, the age of five. This and the radio, listening to Luxembourg under the bedclothes, the Top Twenty Show on a Sunday night.“

What happened to Paul McCartney’s father?

Jim was devastated when his wife Mary died of breast cancer. ‘I missed my wife -it knocked me for six when she died,’ he said. ‘The biggest headache was what sort of parent I was going to be.’  Two of his sisters, regularly came around the house to help out with the cleaning. Jim McCartney married widow Angela (Stopworth) Williams, after only three meetings, on 24 November 1964. At the time of their marriage, Jim was 62 and Angie was 34. Angela was the mother of Ruth Ann Williams (b. 1959), whom Jim then adopted.

ALSO, READ; Arthur Alistair Donald: Facts About Mary McCartney’s Son

Did Paul McCartney go to his father’s funeral?

James was 73 years old at the time of his death. John Lennon, in New York, was one of the first people to hear of Jim’s death and he was the one who actually phoned Paul to tell him the sad news.

Paul McCartney’s father James McCartney died of bronchial pneumonia on 18 March 1976. According to reports, his second wife revealed that his last words were “I’ll be with Mary soon.” Jim died two days before a Wings European tour; Paul McCartney was unable to attend his father’s funeral.

Paul’s brother Mike revealed, ‘It was no coincidence that Paul was on the Continent at the time. Paul would never face that sort of thing.“- per reports. James McCartney was cremated at Landican Cemetery, near Heswall, Merseyside on 22 March 1976.

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