George Harrison's Liverpool childhood home has been awarded with a blue plaque

28 May 2024, 13:55

They are Liverpool's most famous sons.

Now the origins of George Harrison are being celebrated, as a blue plaque has been awarded to the house he grew up in.

An ordinary red-brick terraced housed in the Liverpool suburb of Waverley might seem unspectacular to the naked eye.

But to fans of The Beatles, No.12 Arnold Grove marks the birthplace of Harrison and will be given a blue plaque so everyone else will be privy to its legacy.

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George's widow Olivia Harrison has called the plaque "a source of family pride", and was joined by culture minister Stephen Parkinson at the two-up two-down Victorian house for its unveiling.

Harrison - who died of cancer in 2001 at the age of 58 - lived at the address from his birth in 1943 until he was nearly seven.

The Beatles' working-class upbringings very much shaped their unique sense of humour, which in turn helped their worldwide appeal, and now their many fans can pay a visit to the house of George's childhood.

George opened up about his first home in his memoir, I, Me, Mine, where he described the house as "OK".

He recalled that No.12 Arnold Grove was "just like Coronation Street" with "no garden" and a "door straight onto the street".

"It was OK that house," he wrote, "very pleasant being little and it was always sunny in summer."

Harrison's parents were born and raised in the Wavertree area, whilst his mother's parents lived over in the next street, Albert Grove.

Their family left the area in 1950 however, after reaching the top of the council housing list.

Olivia Harrison said at the plaque's unveiling: "This blue plaque recognition of George’s birthplace is a source of family pride for all the Harrisons, and something that none of us, mainly George, would ever have anticipated."

"So much of who George was came from being born and spending his earliest years at 12 Arnold Grove, undeniably a part of who George was."

"He left a footprint on this world, on this country, in this city and on this street."

She added that George spoke fondly of his childhood memories, living a "very tight-knit secure family life".

"There was something about these small family places and how you learn to respect other people's space," she said.

"He had a freedom where he could go run down the alley and visit his nan and then back home. That was a big deal for a little five-year-old kid."

"This was his cocoon, and out of that came such an incredible man with such vision and compassion and sensibility."

The mayor of Liverpool city region, Steve Rotheram, also added that George "never lost his love" for his hometown and "will always be regarded as one of Liverpool's greatest sons".

There's no argument about that, with his former bandmate John Lennon also having been awarded with blue plaques at 34 Montagu Square in Marylebone, London, and 251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool.

Commemorative blue plaques started as a London scheme way back in the 1860s, and have been run by Historic England since 1986 who have been expanding the scheme outside of the city's capital in recent years.