Career
He served in the Royal Navy during World War I. He was the first cousin of the English writer Daphne du Maurier. He and George were the audience for the fantastic stories in which Barrie conceived of the character of Peter Pan. They took part in play adventures with Barrie which provided much of the inspiration for the adventures in the 1904 stage play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn"t Grow Up and its subsequent adaptations.
Shortly before writing the play, Barrie made a photo book titled The Boy Castaways, featuring the three oldest brothers pretending to be shipwrecked on an island and fighting pirates, themes that later appeared in the Peter Pan story.
The character of John Darling, the older of Wendy"s brothers, was named after him. He reportedly harboured some resentment of Barrie, at times believing the writer was trying to take his father"s place (especially after his father died).
Nonetheless, Barrie gave the couple charge of the Davies family house, where Michael and Nico still lived during school holidays, in the care of Mary Hodgson. Friction between Gerrie and Hodgson led to the elder woman"s resignation.
Davies had two children: Timothy, born in 1921, and Sylvia Jocelyn (named for Davies" mother, but always known as Jane), born in 1924.
In the 1978 British Broadcasting Corporation mini-series The Lost Boys, he was portrayed at various ages by Nicholas Borton, Guy Hewitt, David Wilson, and Osmund Bullock. In the 2004 film Finding Neverland, he was portrayed as a child by Joe Prospero.