Sir James Matthew Barrie was born on May 9, 1860, at Kirriemuir, Forfarshire, Scotland. He was the ninth child and youngest of three sons of David Barrie, a weaver of Kirriemuir, and his wife, Margaret Ogilvy. He attended Glasgow Academy, Dumfries Academy, and Edinburgh University, where he graduated with a master's degree in 1882. In 1894 he married Mary Ansell, a young actress in London, a marriage which was to end in divorce in 1910.

Even as a young boy, Barrie was determined to be a writer, and upon graduation, he took a job as a writer and sub-editor on the Nottingham Journal. In addition to his publishing duties, he found time to write sketches and stories, which he published anonymously in the St. James Gazette.

Barrie moved to London in March 1885, determined to make his way by publishing his stories. His works appear in many magazines between the...