John Lennon's detention sheet valued at $4,797 with Tracks Auction

A sheet that details the detentions John Lennon received while at Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool will sell as part of Tracks Auction's November 22 sale of Beatles memorabilia.

John Lennon detention sheet
Lennon always portrayed himself as unruly at school through Beatles songs and in interviews

The document records the punishments that Lennon received in 1955, when he was just 15 years old. Valued at £2,000-3,000 ($3,197-4,797), it is joined at the Lancashire, UK auction by another example from 1956, which holds an identical estimate.

In both Beatles songs and interviews, John Lennon portrays himself as unruly at school and the detention sheet supports this view, showing that he was kept behind after class at least 12 times in the space of one month.

For example, on June 15, 1955, Lennon received two detentions. The first was from teacher GJ Benzie for making "silly noises during an examination". The second was due to his "bad behaviour, repeated".

John Lennon class photograph
John Lennon circled in red, beside his lifelong friend Pete Shotton in blue


The pages were part of a class detention book that was due to be thrown on a bonfire at Lennon's former school in the 1970s. A member of staff had been asked to clear out a storage room during the summer break and, on noticing that the book contained references to John Lennon, saved it from the fire.

Lennon's teacher at Quarry Bank Peter Beech explained: "The sheet is typical of John Lennon, he was an extremely cheeky boy! He did, however, know his limits. In the classroom, if you settled John down, you generally settled the class down!"

Also selling in the auction is a fully signed copy of the Beatles' White Album.

Paul Fraser Collectibles has a fantastic selection of Beatles memorabilia for sale, including a number of rare John Lennon signed items.

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