J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a
Scottish novelist and
playwright, best remembered as the creator of
Peter Pan. He was born and educated in
Scotland and then moved to
London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays. There he met the
Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in
Kensington Gardens (first included in Barrie's 1902 adult novel ''
The Little White Bird''), then to write ''
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'', a 1904
West End "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named
Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of
Neverland.
Although he continued to write successfully, ''Peter Pan'' overshadowed his other work, and is credited with popularising the name
Wendy. Barrie unofficially adopted the Davies boys following the deaths of their parents. Barrie was made a baronet by
George V on 14 June 1913, and a member of the
Order of Merit in the
1922 New Year Honours. Before his death, he gave the rights to the Peter Pan works to
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, which continues to benefit from them.
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