Guitar thought to be George Harrison’s is up for auction
A BEGINNERS guitar that auctioneers believe may have been Beatles guitarist George Harrison’s earliest surviving guitar is to go under the hammer in Runcorn.
The Auction House said George’s parents Harold and Louise had given the instrument to their neighbour George Rawlinson in the family home at 174 Mackets Lane, Halewood, after they moved due to the number of fans turning up during the pop icons’ heyday.
As Beatlemania exploded, their admirers were sometimes innocently misdirected to George Rawlinson’s address because of the confusion over him sharing the first name with the musician.
An Auction House spokesman said the instrument has been stored in a cupboard for more than half a century, adding that it could precede the reigning prime candidate to have been the Beatle’s earliest surviving guitar – an Egmond steel string Spanish style guitar which now resides in The Beatles Museum and is worth an estimated $800,000.
An Auction House spokeswoman said: “Eventually Harold Harrison and his wife Louise found the intrusion of the fans too much and moved into a new home that their son bought for them at Appleton near Warrington.
“On moving day, the removal men turned up in a huge van to take everything out of the house and George Harrison’s mother Louise spotted ● George Rawlinson down the road and asked him whether he’d like her son’s old guitar that he used to practise on as child, ‘He won’t be needing it now’ she said and George Rawlinson gratefully accepted and it’s been in his possession ever since.
“The guitar that was handed over to George Rawlinson was a very basic learning guitar which is believed to precede all other known guitars owned and used by George Harrison.”
The guitar is due to be auctioned on Saturday, June 24.