Sir james matthew barrie biography of christopher

BORN: 1860, Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland

DIED: 1937, London, England

NATIONALITY: Scottish

GENRE: Drama, Fiction

MAJOR WORKS:
Auld Licht Idylls (1888)
A Window in Thrums (1889)
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up (1904)
Mary Rose (1920)
“Farewell, Miss Julie Logan” (1937)

Overview

J. M. Barrie wrote dozens of plays in his lifetime and is best known as the creator of Peter Pan. However, he began his career as a journalist, during his early years as a writer composed some forty short stories, and ended his prose fiction career with what is arguably his best story.

Works in Biographical and Historical Context

The Victorian Era Barrie grew up in a time known as the Victorian Era, during which Queen Victoria ruled England and its territories (including Scotland). Queen Victoria sat on the throne longer than any other British monarch, from 1837 until 1901. This period saw significant changes for both Britain and Europe as a whole, with industrialization leading much of the population to jobs in factories instead of on farms as in the past. The era also witnessed an extended period of peace and prosperity, leading many free to pursue intellectual interests and occupy themselves with the complex rules of behavior found in “proper” society.

Early Tragedy James Matthew Barrie was born on May 9, 1860, in Kirriemuir, Scotland. His parents were Margaret Ogilvy Barrie, daughter of an Auld Licht Kirk stonemason, and David Barrie, a weaver. James was their third son and the ninth of ten children. Some biographers attribute much in his emotional development to a childhood event that sent his devastated mother to her bed for the remainder of her life: In January 1867 Barrie's thirteen-year-old brother David was knocked down by an ice-skater. His skull was fractured, and he died. Barrie later recounted his attempt to take the place of this favorite son. Only seven years old, he told his mother, “Wait till I'm a man and you'll

Selected products from J.M. Barrie

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM, was born in Kirriemuir, Angus the ninth of ten children on May 9th, 1860. From early formative experiences, Barrie knew that he wished to follow a career as an author. His family wished otherwise and sought to persuade him to choose a profession, such as the ministry. The compromise was that he would attend university to study literature at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated with an M.A. on April 21st, 1882. His first job was as a staff journalist for the Nottingham Journal. The London editor of the St. James's Gazette "liked that Scotch thing" in Barrie’s short stories about his mother’s early life. They also served as the basis for his first novels. Barrie though was increasingly drawn to working in the theatre. His first play, a biography of Richard Savage, was only performed once and critically panned. Undaunted he immediately followed this with Ibsen's Ghost in 1891, a parody of Ibsen's plays Hedda Gabler and Ghosts.

Barrie's third play, Walker, London, in 1892 led to an introduction to his future wife, a young actress by the name of Mary Ansell. The two became friends, and she helped his family to care for him when he fell very ill in 1893 and 1894. Barrie proposed and they were married, in Kirriemuir, on July 9th, 1894. By some accounts the relationship was unconsummated and indeed the couple had no children. The story of Peter Pan had begun to formulate when Barrie became acquainted with the Llewelyn Davis family in 1897, meeting George, Jack and baby Peter with their nanny in London's Kensington Gardens. In 1901 and 1902, Barrie had back-to-back theatre successes with Quality Street and The Admirable Crichton. The character of "Peter Pan" first appeared in The Little White Bird in 1902. This most famous and enduring of his works; Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up had its first stage performance on December 27th, 1904. Peter Pan would overshadow everyth

British novelist and playwright (1860–1937)

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM (; 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.

Childhood and adolescence

James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Angus, to a conservative Calvinist family. His father, David Barrie, was a modestly successful weaver. His mother, Margaret Ogilvy, assumed her deceased mother's household responsibilities at the age of eight. Barrie was the ninth child of ten (two of whom died before he was born), all of whom were schooled in at least the three Rs in preparation for possible professional careers. He was a small child and drew attention to himself with storytelling. He grew to only 5 ft 31⁄2 in. (161 cm) according to his 1934 passport.

When James Barrie was six years old, his elder brothe