Llewelyn Davies Boys - After Death of Parents

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.