Nicholas "Nico" Llewelyn Davies (24 November 1903 – 14 October 1980) was the youngest of the Llewelyn Davies boys, who were the inspiration for

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 succe ...

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

and the Lost Boys. He was only a year old when '' Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' hit the stage in 1904, and as such was not a primary inspiration for the characters of Peter and the Lost Boys. However he was eight years old when the novel adaptation ''

Peter and Wendy ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel titled ''Peter and Wendy''. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous ...

'' was published, and in later editions of the play, the character Michael Darling's middle name was changed to "Nicholas". 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 Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

Early life

When Davies was born, Barrie was already a friend of his brothers and mother Sylvia. Following the deaths of the boys' father

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

(1907) and mother (1910), Barrie became their guardian (along with their uncles Guy du Maurier and Crompton Llewelyn Davies, and their grandmother Emma du Maurier). Two of Davies's brothers died before he was an adult: George was killed in combat in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1915,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

drowned with a close friend in 1921. Davies attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, and started at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1922, but continued to spend holidays with Barrie.

Adult life

In 1926 he married Mary James, daughter of Walter John James, 3rd Baron Northbourne, and they had a daughter Laura, born in 1928. Barrie became godfather to Laura. In 1935 he joined his brother's publishing firm, Peter Davies Ltd. His brother Jack died in 1959, and

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

committed suicide in 1960. As the last surviving subject of the 1978

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

'' The Lost Boys'', he was a consultant to writer Andrew Birkin. He died on 14 October 1980 at his home in Eythorne, Kent.

Portrayals

In ''The Lost Boys'', he was portrayed at various ages by Stephen Mathews, Jason Fathers, Matthew Ryan, and David Parfitt (later award-winning producer). He was not included in the 2004 film '' Finding Neverland'' based on the story of Barrie's relationship with the family and the writing of the play. It took the dramatic licence of placing the dates of Davies's father's death and his mother's illness much earlier relative to the writing of the play, leaving no practical place in its timeline for his birth.

References

* Birkin, Andrew: ''J. M. Barrie & the Lost Boys'' (Constable, 1979; revised edition, Yale University Press, 2003)
Web site about the Davies family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Nicholas Llewelyn 1903 births 1980 deaths

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

People educated at Eton College Du Maurier family People from Eythorne