After Death of Parents
Their father died of a salivary sarcoma at Egerton in 1907, and their mother took them back to live in London; she also developed cancer and died in 1910. Over the course of their illnesses, Barrie became more involved with the family, including providing financial support for them. With Sylvia's death, Barrie became the boys' trustee and unofficial guardian, along with their maternal grandmother Emma du Maurier, Sylvia's brother Guy du Maurier, and Arthur's brother Compton Llewelyn Davies. Mary Hodgson continued to care for them, until increasing friction with Barrie and a confrontation with Jack's new wife led to her resignation when the boys were in their teens and twenties. Barrie, whose success as a novelist and playwright had made him wealthy, provided housing, education, and financial support for them until they were independent.
Upon the United Kingdom's entry into World War I, Jack was already in the Royal Navy, and George and Peter volunteered to serve as officers in the British Army. George was killed in action in 1915. Michael drowned with a close friend at Oxford University in 1921. Peter, plagued by his lifelong identification as 'the real Peter Pan' and other personal troubles, committed suicide in 1960.
Read more about this topic: Llewelyn Davies Boys
Famous quotes containing the words death and/or parents:
“Let those who desire a secure homeland conquer it. Let those who do not conquer it live under the whip and in exile, watched over like wild animals, cast from one country to another, concealing the death of their souls with a beggar’s smile from the scorn of free men.”
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