James Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942, in Walton Hospital, Liverpool. His family was a working-class family. His mother, Mary Patricia, worked at the hospital, but gave it up when she married his father.
His father, Jim McCartney, had been working at A. Hannay and Co. on Chapel Street in Liverpool. He was not Catholic. Jim had been to young for the First World War and too old for the Second. In 1941, when he was thirty-nine, he got married. Him and Paul's mother moved to Anfield. Paul, their first child, was born the next June. Michael, their second child was born in 1944.
Paul started primary school, Stockton Wood Road Primary, when the family was living in Speke. His younger brother, Michael, also went there. Paul tried to avoid trouble in school. When the school became overcrowded, they transferred to another primary school, Joseph Williams Primary School.
After he passed everything at the primary school, he went on to the Liverpool Institute, an all boys school. Paul was very smart. But after the first year, he got tired of his schoolwork. All Paul wanted was women, money, and clothes. He used to steal cigarettes from the stores.
The McCartneys moved from Ardwick when Paul was about thirteen years old. His mother had given up being a midwife, and decided to become a health visitor. They got a council house in Allerton, where Paul spent most of his childhood growing up. When Paul was fourteen, his mother started having pains in her breast. The pain got more and more serious. One day, Michael came home and found her crying. She decided to see a doctor, and she was diagnosed with cancer. They decided to operate, but Paul's mother died.
After the death of their mother, Paul and Michael moved out for a few days, to stay with their Aunt Jinny. Jim had a huge problem. He never did much around the house, and at the age of fifty-three, he had to bring up two boys.
Two of Jim's sisters helped a lot. Michael, to this day, doesn't know how his father managed it all those years. Jim had a natural charm and courtesy with everyone. If he had been a less thoughtful or considerate father, Paul and Michael could have easily broken down when their mother died. Paul is the sort of person who can always get things done, when he wants to. He despised school and the idea of rules as much as John did. It was after the death of their mother, Paul got interested in playing the guitar.