Harrison Boys - Big Boys!

[beatlebangs1964]

I read in a fan club newsletter from the 1960s that Louise Harrison contributed to that the three Harrison boys were quite large at birth, unlike their sister who started off at a reasonable 7.5 pounds.

Harold Jr. and George were 10 pounds and Peter was a whopping 12 pounder!

I read that George walked at 10 months and everybody all agreed that the future Beatle was very independent and insisted on doing for himself from the start.

[JudithKristen]

YE-GADS... who woulda thought our forever slim and trim George was a 10 pound baby.
Ya never know.

[valerieinthegallery]

George weighed 10lbs at birth? Amazing!

[beatlebangs1964]

Can you imagine Louise delivering a 12-pound baby without the benefit of anesthesia? Two of those boys were 10 pounds, but Peter was a whopping dozen!

I wonder if the older Harrison siblings stayed with their maternal grandparents whenever a new Harrison came along. I wonder if George's maternal Nan delivered him. Whoever delivered him did a good job of cutting his umblilical cord.

[beatlebangs1964]

I stand corrected - George's oldest brother was 9 pounds, not 10. George was the only Harrison child who was 10 pounds.

[beatlebangs1964]

Those boys grew up to be tall men. George Harrison was tall and fine by the time he left the teens. By 1964 he was just too damn fine for words!

When he came to America to visit his only sister he was then 20, barely out of puberty and already a sexpot. A tall, beautiful man with skin just clearing up and a lean, attractive body and a head blessed with thick, wavy hair, George was a beautiful man who left his stamp on Benton, Illinois!

[beatlebangs1964]

I can only imagine Louise French thinking in 1942-43, "I hope this new little Harrison won't be 12 pounds like Peter. He was so large, what with being 12 pounds and he took so long being born. I should hope this new little Harrison will be easier like Lou who was only 7 lbs when she was born."

I can envision Harold Sr. smiling from ear to ear at how big those boys started out, thinking this was a nod to him personally. Louise probably thought, "You had the easy part. I delivered them. Try delivering a 12-lb boy!" No doubt Harold Sr. had taken Louise lovingly into his arms each time Louise annouced a new Harrison was on the way.

That's what I just love about George. Love created him and he was literally surrounded by love from the start.

[larainefan]

Beatlebangs, didn't you say somewhere George learned to talk early too?

I love stories you're posting from the fan newsletters, why can't George's biographers state things like that, rather than repeating the same facts found in all the other books? I do recall one book saying that he walked to market at 2 1/2 to get sausages for his family's dinner, that was a nice anecdote I hadn't seen before. George really was smart and independent from the start!

[beatlebangs1964]

Yes, Louise said her son spoke at 6 months and walked at 10 months. She told his fan club president that George was never a rebel, but "sensible and independent from a baby on." Actually, George DID rebel by wearing weird outfits; cultivating a rock 'n roll look and making drainies out of his trousers, much to the great displeasure of Harold Sr. and somewhat amusement of Louise.

Hunter Davies' book, which was my very first Beatle biography included Louise saying that George at 2 1/2 went to the butcher's downstairs and said he didn't need a note. He'd ask for what was on the shopping list. I do remember that story. Imagine letting a toddler go to the market - meat counter all by himself. (I think Louise was probably trailing George to ensure her independent son's safety and listening to him give the counter clerk the order).

[beatlebangs1964]

Louise said her George was "sensible and independent from a baby on." I can't get over how much George looked like her when he was 2 and in Lou (sister)'s arms and also tween George with Harold Sr. and Peter and some friends on a sea shore in or about 1954. He really had the French nose! (The pictures I am referencing are in the "Living in the Material World" bio)