Peter McGovern
Encyclopedia
Peter McGovern was an English
songwriter and activist.
He was born in north Liverpool, near the docks, and attended St. Edwards School, West Derby
and Queen Elizabeth's School, Anfield
. He worked for many years on the railways and was an active trade unionist and campaigner.
His main claim to fame is that he wrote "In My Liverpool Home", a song that has become an anthem or folk tune for the people of Liverpool. It was recorded by the 1960s folk group The Spinners
.
The original four verses of "In My Liverpool Home" were written by McGovern around 1962, but many verses have been added since.
The first two lines of the song are:
And later in the song comes the unusual couplet:
The second line refers to the statue above the main entrance of Lewis's
department store in central Liverpool that acts as a well-known meeting place. Officially entitled Liverpool Resurgent, the nude statue has been affectionately re-christened Dicky Lewis.
McGovern's grand-daughter, Alison McGovern
, was elected MP for Wirral South in the UK General Election, 2010.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
songwriter and activist.
He was born in north Liverpool, near the docks, and attended St. Edwards School, West Derby
West Derby
West Derby is a suburb in the north of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2001 Census, the population of the ward was 14,801 .-History:...
and Queen Elizabeth's School, Anfield
Anfield, Liverpool
Anfield is a district of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward.-Toponymy:Originally common pasture land, the area had the name of Hanging-fields or Hangfield - the name originating from the deeply sloping nature of the terrain. The name was also frequently written as...
. He worked for many years on the railways and was an active trade unionist and campaigner.
His main claim to fame is that he wrote "In My Liverpool Home", a song that has become an anthem or folk tune for the people of Liverpool. It was recorded by the 1960s folk group The Spinners
The Spinners (UK band)
The Spinners were a 1960s folk group from Liverpool, England formed in September 1958. They consisted of:* Hughie Jones...
.
The original four verses of "In My Liverpool Home" were written by McGovern around 1962, but many verses have been added since.
The first two lines of the song are:
- "I was born in Liverpool, down by the docks,
- Me religion was Catholic, occupation hard-knocks"
And later in the song comes the unusual couplet:
- "We speak with an accent exceedingly rare,
- Meet under a statue exceedingly bare"
The second line refers to the statue above the main entrance of Lewis's
Lewis's
Lewis's was a large department store in Liverpool city centre. It was formerly the flagship of a chain of department stores under the Lewis's name, that operated from 1856 to 1991, when the company went into administration. Several stores in the chain were bought by the company Owen Owen and...
department store in central Liverpool that acts as a well-known meeting place. Officially entitled Liverpool Resurgent, the nude statue has been affectionately re-christened Dicky Lewis.
McGovern's grand-daughter, Alison McGovern
Alison McGovern
Alison McGovern is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Wirral South since 2010.-Early life:...
, was elected MP for Wirral South in the UK General Election, 2010.