George Harrison - Early Years: 1943–1957

Early Years: 1943–1957

Harrison was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 25 February 1943, the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves Harrison and his wife Louise (née French). He had one sister, Louise (born 16 August 1931), and two brothers, Harry (born 1934) and Peter (born 20 July 1940).

His mother was a Liverpool shop assistant, and his father was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line. His mother's family had Irish roots and were Roman Catholic; his maternal grandfather, John French, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, emigrating to Liverpool where he married a local woman, Louise Woollam. Harrison's birthplace was also the home in which he lived for the first six years of his life: 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool, which was a small two-up, two-down terraced house in a cul-de-sac, with an alley to the rear. The house had an outdoor toilet and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In 1950, the family were offered a council house, and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke.

He first attended school at Dovedale Primary School, nearby to Penny Lane, the same school attended by John Lennon, several years Harrison's senior. He passed his 11-plus examination and achieved a place at the prestigious Liverpool Institute for Boys (in the building that now houses the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts), which he attended from 1954 to 1959.

Harrison said that, when he was 12 or 13, he had an epiphany of sorts — riding a bike around his neighbourhood, he heard Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" playing from a nearby house and was hooked. Even though he had done well enough on his 11-plus examination to get into the city's best high school, from that point on, the former good student lost interest in school.

At age 14, Harrison sat at the back of the class and would often draw guitars in his schoolbooks. “I was totally into guitars,” he later said. “I heard about this kid at school who had a guitar at £3 10s, it was just a little acoustic round hole. I got the £3 10s from my mother: that was a lot of money for us then.” Harrison bought a Dutch Egmond flat top acoustic guitar. While at the Liverpool Institute, Harrison formed a skiffle group called the Rebels with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly. On the bus to school, Harrison met Paul McCartney, who was eight months older than him. McCartney later became a member of Lennon's band, the Quarrymen.