Margaret Emma Henley (4 September 1888 – 11 February 1894) was the daughter of William Ernest Henley and his wife Anna Henley (née Boyle). Margaret's friendship with J. M. Barrie, whom she called "fwendy" (i.e., "friendy"), was the inspiration for the character Wendy Darling in Barrie's play ''Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' (1904) and its novelisation '' Peter and Wendy'' (1911). She may also have served as the inspiration for Margaret Dearth, the protagonist's "dream-child" in Barrie's 1917 play ''Dear Brutus'', and for Margaret, Wendy Darling's granddaughter, in ''Peter Pan''. Margaret died at the age of five of cerebral

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

. She was buried at the country estate of her father's friend, Henry Cust, in

Cockayne Hatley Cockayne Hatley is a small, rural village in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England east of the county town of Bedford. The population in 2007 was approximately 75 with 33 houses. It is in the civil parish of ...

, Bedfordshire. She was an only child.

References

1888 births 1894 deaths Women of the Victorian era English children Neurological disease deaths in England Infectious disease deaths in England Deaths from meningitis {{England-bio-stub Child deaths