Peter Llewelyn Davies MC (25 February 1897 – 5 April 1960) was one of five brothers born to Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. He was one of the Llewelyn Davies boys who became friends with J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. Barrie later said that Peter was the inspiration for the name of the main character in his 1904 play, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up.

During World War I, Peter served as an officer and was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery. In 1926, he started a publishing company called Peter Davies. After the war, he experienced emotional difficulties and eventually took his own life.

Peter was also the first cousin of the famous English writer Daphne du Maurier.

Childhood

When J.M. Barrie met the Davies family, he was a young man who became friends with the boys’ older brothers, George and Jack, during visits to Kensington Gardens. At that time, the boys were cared for by their nurse, Mary Hodgson. In Barrie’s book The Little White Bird (1902), he first described Peter Pan as a baby who had escaped to Kensington Gardens. However, family members later said that George and Michael, two of the Davies brothers, were the main inspirations for Peter Pan’s appearance in the famous play (Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, 1904) and the novel (1911), where the character was shown as a young boy.

In 1904, the year Barrie’s play opened at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre, the Davies family moved from London to live at Egerton House, an old mansion in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. They stayed there for three years. In 1907, the Davies family’s father died of cancer, and their mother took the children—George, Jack, Michael, and Nico—back to London. She also became very sick with cancer and passed away in 1910. In her will, she named Barrie, her sons’ uncles Crompton Llewelyn Davies and Guy du Maurier, and her mother, Emma, as guardians for her sons. Mary Hodgson continued to care for the boys as their nurse and mother figure, while Barrie took on the role of their main guardian and provided financial support.

Davies, along with his brothers (except for Jack), attended Eton College.

Adulthood

Davies joined the military with his brother George during World War I. Both were given officer positions in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in September 1914. Davies worked as a signal officer in France and spent time in the trenches. He was once hospitalized with impetigo. By March 1918, he had become a captain and served as the adjutant for the 7th Battalion KRRC when the German spring offensive began. Davies took command of the battalion after their colonel was injured during a 15-day retreat. For his leadership, he was awarded the Military Cross. However, his wartime experiences deeply affected him emotionally. His brother George died at the age of 21 during the Battle of Ypres in March 1915.

In 1917, while still in the military, Davies met Vera Willoughby, a Hungarian-born artist who was 27 years older than him and already married with a daughter older than Davies. He visited her during his time off, which upset J.M. Barrie and caused a disagreement between them. His former nurse and close friend, Mary Hodgson, also strongly disapproved of the relationship. The connection continued until the end of his military service in 1919. In 1926, he published a version of George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer that included illustrations by Willoughby.

In 1926, with financial support from Barrie, Davies started a publishing company called Peter Davies. He married Margaret Leslie Hore-Ruthven, the youngest daughter of Maj-Gen Walter Hore-Ruthven, in 1931. They had three sons: Ruthven (1933–1998), George (born 1935), and Peter (1940–1989).

Davies disliked being connected to Peter Pan, which he referred to as "that terrible masterpiece." After Barrie’s death in 1937, most of his estate and money went to his secretary, Cynthia Asquith. The copyright for Peter Pan had already been given to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London in 1929. Davies and his surviving brothers each received a portion of Barrie’s estate.

Later in life, Davies collected and organized family letters and papers into a collection he called the Morgue, which he completed in 1950. His son Ruthven later shared this information with an interviewer.

Publishing firm

In 1926, Peter Davies started his publishing company, which was named Peter Davies. His brother, Nico, joined him in the business. By 1928, the company became a limited company and operated under the name Peter Davies Limited.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the company published many histories and biographies written by well-known authors. In 1947, it republished the novels of Peter and Nico’s maternal grandfather, George du Maurier. In 1951, the company published a collection of George du Maurier’s letters, titled The Young George du Maurier: A Selection of His Letters 1860–67, which was edited by his granddaughter, Daphne du Maurier. Other important books published by the company included Men of Good Will by Jules Romains, The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas, some titles from Mary Poppins, some works by J. M. Barrie, Self Portrait by Charles Rickett, The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, and Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans by Louis Armstrong. The company also published book series such as the Covent Garden Library, Little Books, and Soldiers' Tales.

In 1937, Heinemann Publishers purchased a majority share of Peter Davies Limited. The company continued to operate until 1977, when Heinemann fully took over the business.

Death

On April 5, 1960, after staying at the bar of the Royal Court Hotel, 63-year-old Davies walked to the nearby Sloane Square station of the London Underground and jumped in front of a train as it entered the station. A coroner's jury concluded that he had taken his own life "while his mental state was not clear." Factors that may have contributed to his death included his long-term alcohol use and poor health, as he had emphysema. Newspapers reported his death with headlines that called him "Peter Pan."

Portrayals

In the 1978 BBC mini-series The Lost Boys, he was shown at different ages by actors Jean-Benoit Louveaux, Matthew Blakstad, Dominic Heath, and Tom Kelly.

In the 2004 film Finding Neverland, he was shown as a child by Freddie Highmore. The character is described as troubled by his father's death and is helped by Barrie to come out of his shell. Highmore received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his performance. In the musical version, Harry Polden played the character in the 2012 U.K. premiere. Aidan Gemme took on the role in the American Repertory Theater in 2014 and in the original Broadway production in 2015.

In the 2013 play Peter and Alice by John Logan, he was portrayed by Ben Whishaw as a troubled person who had been hurt by his fame and past experiences.