Person    | Male  Born 9/5/1860  Died 19/6/1937

Sir J. M. Barrie

Categories: Literature, Theatre

Countries: Scotland

Playwright and novelist. Born Kirriemuir, Scotland. Moved to London, Bloomsbury, in 1885 for his writing career. Less than 5 foot tall he was not very successful with women and developed a habit of befriending the families of married friends, playing with their children, and on one occasion developing a close friendship with the wife, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the mother of the four boys (living at 31 Kensington Park Gardens) on whom it is said the "Lost Boys" in Peter Pan are based. His marriage in 1891 was unsuccessful and during the divorce proceedings in 1909 his impotence became public knowledge. Within 4 years of each other the Llewelyn Davies parents died, leaving Barrie in 1910 as the guardian of their boys.

In 1913 his close friend, the explorer Robert Scott, wrote to him from the South Pole, knowing he was dying and asking him to look after his wife, Lady Scott, and their child. Lady Scott did not require his protection but Barrie looked after the Davies boys as if they were his own sons. Wrote Peter Pan in 1904, initially as a play, and gave the copyright to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in April 1929.

When given the freedom of Dumfries Barrie said that Peter Pan's adventures had been inspired by his childhood games in the house and garden of Moat Brae House in Dumfries where he played with the sons of the owner. Presented the first Peter Pan Cup, competed for by the members of the Serpentine Swimming Club on Christmas morning. Londonist has more info.

Barrie founded the Allahakbarries, who played village cricket almost every summer from 1887 until the eve of WW1, 26 years. The team included: Barrie himself, Conan Doyle, Jerome K. Jerome, A. A. Milne, P. G. Wodehouse and many other writers and artists. Barrie didn't just arrange the matches, he ran the team, properly, with club colours, dinners and memorial booklets. Quality Street chocolates were named after one of his plays, and many were filmed, e.g. The Admirable Crichton, 1957. He became ill at his home, 3 Adelphi Terrace, and died at a nursing home at 57 Manchester Street, Marylebone.

And the Llewelyn Davies boys? George died in the trenches in 1915; Michael (the source of that line: "To die would be an awfully big adventure") drowned at Oxford aged 21 clasping another undergraduate; Peter, threw himself under a train at Sloane Square in 1960, apparently sick of his association with "that terrible masterpiece".

2019: People report on a house for sale in "South Kensington" where Barrie lived  "1895-1902" and provides photos inside and out. The house is 133 Gloucester Road, on the section that forms the east side of Hereford Square.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir J. M. Barrie

Commemorated ati

Adam, Hood, Galsworthy, Barrie, etc.

Robert Adam, Thomas Hood, John Galsworthy, Sir James Barrie and other eminent...

Read More

Great Ormond Street Hosp. - Peter Pan

In 2005, after our photo, Tinkerbell was added to the statue, fluttering at P...

Read More

J. M. Barrie - W2

Barrie and his wife Mary Ansell lived at Gloucester Road, 1895 - 1904, when t...

Read More

J.M. Barrie - WC1

Sir James Matthew Barrie, Bart. OM, 1860 - 1937, novelist, dramatist and crea...

Read More

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Sir J. M. Barrie

Creations i

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

The first Peter Pan, Nina Boucicault, (always a woman) modelled for the statu...

Read More

Other Subjects

Henry Fielding

Henry Fielding

Novelist, playwright. Born Somerset. Half-brother to Sir John Fielding. Lived in Bow Street and Essex Street. Play: The Miser. Novels: Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones. As magistrate he carried out a numb...

Person, Law, Literature, Theatre, Portugal

2 memorials
Robert Fabian

Robert Fabian

Robert Honey Fabian was born in Lewisham. He joined the police in 1921 and rose to the rank of Detective Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police. We wonder if he managed to keep his middle name s...

Person, Emergency Services, Literature

1 memorial
Edward Sackville-West

Edward Sackville-West

Edward Charles Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville was a music critic, novelist and, in his last 3 years, a member of the House of Lords. Born at Cadogan Gardens, son of Major-General Charles John...

Person, Literature, Music / songs, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Tobias George Smollett

Tobias George Smollett

Born Dalquhurn (now part of Renton) Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Poet and author of novels such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle which supposedly influenced ...

Person, Literature, Poetry, Italy, Scotland

1 memorial
William Goldman

William Goldman

Screenwriter and novelist. Born on 12 August 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He's the one who first said "Nobody knows anything" in reference to predicting which films will be successful. He died ...

Person, Cinema, Literature, USA

1 memorial

Previously viewed

A. A. Boucher
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Limes from Berlin

Limes from Berlin

W8, Broad Walk, Kensington Gardens

This plaque set us wondering: why was this particular path chosen to be lined with these limes from Germany, and why in 1988? Then we rem...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Diss Street re-housing scheme

Diss Street re-housing scheme

E2, Diss Street, Vaughan Estate

Our picture, just, shows the entire southern side of this street. This foundation stone was laid in 1922 and the Vaughan Estate opened i...

22 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Wimbledon Common windmill

Wimbledon Common windmill

A Grade II* listed building. It was built by a carpenter, Charles March, and is a rare example of a 'hollow-post' mill. It continued in use until 1864, when the miller was evicted by the Lord of th...

Building, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial
John Thornton

John Thornton

Philanthropist who promoted Christian missionary work.  Died following an accident at Bath.  He is listed on the plaque as a menber of the Clapham Sect but it did not really get going until his dea...

Person, Commerce, Religion

1 memorial