Peter Llewelyn Davies
MC (25 February 1897 – 5 April 1960) was the middle of five sons of
Arthur
Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...
and
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (née du Maurier; 25 November 1866 – 27 August 1910) was the mother of the boys who were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. She was the daughter of cartoonist and writer George du Maurier and h ...
, one of the
Llewelyn Davies boys
The Davies boys (the middle name ''Llewelyn'' was a tradition begun with their grandfather, not a true double-barreled surname, though the family sometimes treated it as such) were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, ...
befriended and later informally adopted by
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 succ ...
. Barrie publicly identified him as the source of the name for the title character in his 1904 play ''
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up
''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' or ''Peter and Wendy'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous li ...
''. This public identification as "the original Peter Pan" plagued Davies throughout his life, which ended in suicide.
He was awarded the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
after serving as an officer in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and in 1926 founded the publishing house Peter Davies Ltd.
He was the first cousin of the English writer
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...
.
Childhood
Davies was an infant in a
pram when Barrie befriended his older brothers
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
and
Jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
during outings in
Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde P ...
, with their nurse Mary Hodgson. Barrie's original description of
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
in ''
The Little White Bird
''The Little White Bird'' is a novel by the Scottish writer J. M. Barrie, ranging in tone from fantasy and whimsy to social comedy with dark, aggressive undertones. It was published in November 1902, by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Scribn ...
'' (1902) was as a newborn baby who had escaped to Kensington Gardens. However, according to family accounts, his brothers George and
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
served as the primary models for the character as he appeared in the famed stage play (1904) and later novel (1911), as a pre-adolescent boy.
In 1904, the year when Barrie's play, ''
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up
''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' or ''Peter and Wendy'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous li ...
'', debuted at London's
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...
, the Davies family moved out of London and went to live at
Egerton House, an Elizabethan mansion house in
Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. Their time there lasted only three years; in 1907, Davies's father died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
and his mother took Davies and his brothers George, Jack, Michael, and
Nico
Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...
back to London. She too developed cancer and died in 1910. In her will, she named Barrie, the boys' uncles Crompton Llewelyn Davies and
Guy du Maurier
Guy Louis Busson du Maurier DSO (18 May 1865, London, England – 9 March 1915, Kemmel, Flanders, Belgium) was an English army officer and playwright. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and ...
as well as her mother, Emma, as guardians to her sons. Hodgson continued to serve as nurse and surrogate mother for him and his brothers, with Barrie taking on the duties of the main guardian and supporting them financially.
Davies, like his brothers (apart from Jack), attended
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
.
Adulthood
Davies volunteered along with his brother George to serve in World War I, and they both received commissions as officers in the
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...
in September 1914. He was a signal officer in France and spent time in the trenches; at one point he was hospitalized with
impetigo
Impetigo is a bacterial infection that involves the superficial skin. The most common presentation is yellowish crusts on the face, arms, or legs. Less commonly there may be large blisters which affect the groin or armpits. The lesions may be pa ...
. By March 1918, he had reached the rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
and was the
adjutant
Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...
for 7th Battalion KRRC, when the
German spring offensive started. Davies took charge of the battalion after their colonel was wounded during a fighting retreat that lasted for 15 days, for which he was awarded the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
; however, he was emotionally scarred by his wartime experience. His brother George was killed at the age of 21 at
Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
in March 1915.
In 1917, while still in the military, Davies met and began to court Hungarian-born
Vera Willoughby
Vera Willoughby (1870–1939) was a British illustrator, painter, and poster artist. Under the name Vera Petrovna, she also created designs and illustrations of ballet dancers.
Biography
Willoughby was born in South Norwood and educated in Lond ...
[Birkin, Andrew: ''J. M. Barrie & the Lost Boys'' (Constable & Co., 1979; revised edition, Yale University Press, 2003)] (a watercolour painter and illustrator, as well as a costume and poster designer), a married woman 27 years older, with a daughter older than he was. He stayed with her when on leave, which scandalized Barrie and caused a rift between the two. His former nurse and mother figure Mary Hodgson disapproved strongly as well. The relationship continued at least through the end of his military service in 1919. In 1926 he published an edition of
George Farquhar
George Farquhar (1677The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux’ Stratagem by George Farquhar' (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes ...
's ''
The Recruiting Officer
''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...
'' featuring illustrations by Willoughby.
In 1926, Davies, with financial help from Barrie, founded a publishing house, Peter Davies Ltd, which in 1951 published his cousin
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...
's work about their grandfather, illustrator and writer
George du Maurier
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald d ...
, ''The Young George du Maurier: a selection of his letters 1860–67''.
He married
Margaret Leslie Hore-Ruthven
Hon. Margaret Leslie Hore-Ruthven (12 June 1901 – 30 April 1970) was a British socialite, one of the "Bright Young Things" of the 1920s. She and her twin sister Alison Mary Hore-Ruthven, Alison were included in ''The Book of Beauty'' by Cecil B ...
, youngest daughter of
Maj-Gen Walter Hore-Ruthven, in 1931, and had three sons with her: Ruthven (1933–1998), George (b. 1935) and Peter (1940–1989).
He grew to dislike having his name associated with ''Peter Pan'', which he called "that terrible masterpiece". Upon Barrie's death in 1937, most of his estate and fortune went to his secretary
Cynthia Asquith
Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith (née Charteris; 27 September 1887 – 31 March 1960) was an English writer and socialite, known for her ghost stories and diaries.Richard Dalby, ''The Virago Book of Ghost Stories''.Virago, London, , 1987 (p. 23 ...
, and the copyright to the Peter Pan works had previously been given in 1929 to
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...
for Children in London. Davies and his surviving brothers each received a legacy. Davies's son Ruthven later told an interviewer:
My father had mixed feelings about the whole business of Peter Pan. He accepted that Barrie considered that he was the inspiration for Peter Pan and it was only reasonable that my father should inherit everything from Barrie. That was my father's expectation. It would have recompensed him for the notoriety he had experienced since being linked with Peter Pan—something he hated.
He assembled and edited family papers and letters into a collection which he called the ''Morgue'' and completed in 1950.
Death
On 5 April 1960, after lingering at the bar of the Royal Court Hotel, 63-year-old Davies walked to the nearby
Sloane Square station of the London Underground and threw himself under a train as it was pulling into the station. A coroner's jury ruled that he had killed himself "while the balance of his mind was disturbed". Possible contributing factors to his suicide were his alcoholism and ill health (he was suffering from
emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...
). Newspaper reports of his death referred to him in their headlines as "Peter Pan".
Portrayals
In the 1978
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', he was portrayed at various ages by Jean-Benoit Louveaux, Matthew Blakstad, Dominic Heath, and
, presenting him as a child troubled by his father's death, who is drawn out of his shell by Barrie; Highmore received a
nomination for his performance. In the
, he was portrayed by Harry Polden in the 2012 U.K. premiere; Aidan Gemme played Davies in the
as a troubled individual who had been hurt by his fame and his past.