J.M. Barrie

James Matthew Barrie, born in Kirriemuir, Angus in 1860, was a novelist and playwright, best known as the creator of Peter Pan.Moving to London from Scotland as a young adult, Barrie began publishing pieces in London newspapers. In 1897, he first met the Llewelyn Davies family, who became an important fixture in his life. He became a close companion of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and her five sons, taking custody of them after her death. The character of Peter Pan was invented to entertain the elder two boys, and was drawn heavily from all the boys, but in particular the middle son Peter. He maintained a close relationship with the surviving Llewelyn Davies boys throughout his life.Barrie died of pneumonia at a nursing home in Marylebone in 1937. He bequeathed the copyright to all Peter Pan books to Great Ormond Street Hospital.