James Matthew Barrie was born in 1860 near Dundee in Scotland. He was the son of a weaver. He was educated at Glasgow Academy, Dumfries Academy and Edinburgh University. After working as a journalist in Nottingham he went to London and wrote for various newspapers and journals there. Between 1891 and 1902 Barrie published several successful novels and plays. Peter Pan , his greatest work, was first performed as a play in 1904. Although the original idea for Peter Pan appeared in an earlier adult novel, The Little White Bird , the full 'story' version for children was not set down on paper until 1911. J.