McCartney page 3

 McCartney page 3 by ric gustafson

Paul McCartney's parents were Irish. McCartney's great grandfather James McCartney had come over in the late 19th century during a mass emigration. Poverty drove James McCartney to cross the Irish Sea to Liverpool. In the early 1880's, James McCartney arrived in Liverpool and settled into the Everton District. James McCartney had a son he named Joseph. He became a leaf cutter at a local tobacco factory. In 1896, Joseph married Florence Clegg. She bore nine children. Paul McCartney's father James was surviving child number 5. Home for James and his six siblings was a small terrace house on Solva Street.

Liverpool's prosperity was largely founded on cotton. James McCartney joined one of Liverpool's oldest cotton brokers. To supplement his wages, he sold programs at Everton's Theatre Royal. 

Paul's father James had some music ability. He formed a dance band that included his older brother Jack. They called the band ' the Masked Music Makers'. After problems wearing their masks, the band was changed to the ' Jim Mac Jazz Band'.

In 1939 at the start of the war, Paul McCartney's father was 37.

research help: ' Paul McCartney the life' by Philip Norman

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric