Peter Pan & Me
I have a very special love for the book Peter Pan - probably comes from being called Wendy. I don’t know when I first read the book, or how many times I have re-read it since, but it always amazes me each time.
The book was also, apparently, my dad’s favourite book when he was a boy and his younger brother was named Peter at his insistence! (not sure if I’m Wendy for the same reasons!). My dad is John so we only need a Michael for the set.
I always identified much more with Peter Pan than with Wendy - fighting pirates and indians sounded much more fun than having a Wendy house and looking after Lost Boys.
About 11 years ago I moved to Marlow in Buckinghamshire and in exploring my new town came across this drinking fountain at the end of the High Street
The fountain has an inscription indicating it is a memorial to Charles Frohman and, intrigued, I did some research to find out who Charles Frohman was.
I discoverd that Charles Frohman was a Broadway stage producer who, in 1905, bought the rights to a play by James Matthew Barrie which no-one else would consider. The play was, of course, Peter Pan, and it made fortunes for Barrie and Frohman. If you’ve seen Finding Neverland then Dustin Hoffman plays Frohman.
Frohman loved Marlow more than any place in the world and spent all his holidays there. He had even picked out a place to be buried in All Saints Church yard however he was drowned when The Lusitania was torpedoed in 1915 his body washed up on the shore of Ireland and flown back to America.
After the war his friends decided to erect a memorial in the town he had wished to take his last rest in. The model for the sculpture on the memorial is supposedly Pauline Chase, an american actress who lived in Marlow and was one of the first people to play Peter Pan in Frohman’s original production. Pauline often stayed in Burnham Beeches but spent a lot of time in Marlow where she would be joined by Frohman, collecting him from the station in her car and taking him to The Compleat Angler.
So - another link with Peter Pan in my life!
A little over 6 years ago I met J (my husband) we talked about films and music and books and I discovered that he too was fascinated with the story of Peter Pan. In fact when we were first seeing each other one of his friends laughed when told my name was Wendy saying “well it would be, wouldn’t it!”
J too has read the book more times than he can remember and I bought him a 1st edition for 1st wedding anniversary.
In addition to his love for the book there is another Peter Pan connection in his family. His parents have two Newfoundland dogs, Bosun and Otto. For anyone who doesn’t know Nana in the Peter Pan story (the children’s nanny) is a Newfoundland dog and not a St Bernard as depicted in the Disney cartoon.
J M Barrie’s and his wife, Mary Ansell, seem to have had an unhappy, childless marriage and Mary appears to have redirected her affections towards her dogs - Porthos a St Bernard and his successor Luath, a Newfoundland. Nana was probably an amalgam of both these dogs. (In the film Finding Neverland they morph these two dogs into Porthos, a Newfoundland!)
As a piece of trivia for you - my name “Wendy”- was invented by Barrie in affection for a friend’s little girl, Margaret Henley, who called Barrie her “friendy” but with a child’s pronunciation of the “r” this became “fwendy” and so Wendy was born.
And now, J and I are preparing to adopt a family - our own Lost Boys (or Girls) as J puts it - somehow it seems fitting.



January 31st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Excellent post. I had never thought about that before - and isn’t it weird about the statue in town too…
January 31st, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Isn’t it strange how one is drawn to the one they are ment to be with, how lives are similar but never idential paralelling eachother until both meet. I am excited for you and your DH and look forward to reading about the process of your adoption of your own lost boys or girls. Some day we would like to adopt our own lost boys or girls.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Wonderful blog post
Myself and our girls adore the story of Peter Pan also. We have a few films on DVD of Peter Pan; Finding Neverland, Hook, and Peter Pan, but nothing compares to the magic of reading the book.
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Hi Wendy
I liked your comments. I’m currently looking into Charles Frohman’s connections with Marlow for the Marlow Society.
I’m particularly interested in info on where Pauline Chase lived in Burnham Beeches and where her descendants are now. I know her house was called Treetops but not where it is or was.
Pauline retired from acting in 1914 when she married Captain Alec Drummond (from the banking family). She had three children - Anne, Jane and Alexander (sadly none of them “Peter Pan” names!
The words round the base of the statue read:
The words round the base are:
“For it is not right that in a house the muses haunt mourning should dwell; such things befit us not”
I would also be very interested in knowing where these words came from.
If anyone can help me (including you Wendy) , please either post a reply or email me via the Marlow Society website.
Thanks
Geoff