“I suppose I always knew that I made Peter by rubbing the five of you violently together, as savages with two sticks produce a flame. That is all Peter is – the spark I got from you.”
J. M. Barrie was inspired to create the Peter Pan story after befriending the five children of the Llewellyn Davies family: George, Michael, Jack, Peter and Nicholas.
When their parents died, J.M. Barrie became their guardian.
George died fighting in the First World War in 1915.
Michael, who was said to be Barrie’s favourite, drowned when he was 20 with his friend Rupert Buxton. As Michael could not swim, there was speculation that the two young men had formed a suicide pact.
While researching his family history, Peter, who had become a successful publisher, burnt many documents, including the 2000 letters between Barrie and Michael.
When he was 63, Peter threw himself under a train at Sloane Square station.
J. M. Barrie was reportedly not fond of explanation or analysis. To say he did not want to be written about or analysed, is to put it mildly: “May God blast anyone who writes a biography about me.”
I don't like to end on that note. But I can't think of anything else to write, so I shall.
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