JM Barrie

James Matthew Barrie was born in the small town of Kirriemuir, Scotland on 9 May 1860.

He was the ninth child of 10 born to David Barrie, a hand-loom weaver and his wife, Margaret Ogilvy.

Tragedy struck when Barrie's older brother, David, died after a skating accident just before his 14th birthday. 

In a desperate attempt to console his grieving mother, young James tried to take David's place, hoping to earn her affection by becoming the son she’d lost.

While his mother found some comfort in the idea that David would always be a boy, Barrie found inspiration.

The idea of eternal childhood stuck with Barrie, inspiring his famous play, Peter Pan.

After studying at the University of Edinburgh, Barrie moved to London. There he met the three eldest Llewelyn Davies boys, George, five, Jack, four, and baby Peter in Kensington Gardens in 1897. Later, their brothers Michael and Nico were born. Barrie formed a close friendship with the boys and their parents, Sylvia and Arthur.

In 1901, during a summer holiday at Barrie's country house in Surrey, he took photos of George, Jack and Peter's adventures and turned them into a book, The Boy Castaways. This book became the precursor to Peter Pan.

View a slideshow of these photographs, put together by Andrew Birkin.

Sylvia and Arthur tragically died of cancer when their boys were still young. Barrie became their guardian and, although now divorced from his wife Mary, raised the boys as his own. His life with them deeply inspired the creation of Peter Pan in 1904.