Details of the marriage certificate belonging to Angus author J. M. Barrie have been released ahead of the anniversary of his wedding ceremony this month.
The novelist and playwright, best known for creating the character Peter Pan, wed actress Mary Ansell in his home town of Kirriemuir on July 9, 1894.
The document shows the couple were married according to the forms of the Free Church of Scotland and has both sets of parents listed.
Barrie’s father is described as a retired mercantile clerk, while his wife’s father is recorded only as George Ansell Esq.
Listed under the author’s name is the official title bachelor, while Mary is described as a spinster.
Under the heading of usual residence, both Barrie and his wife were logged as Strathview, Kirriemuir.
Free Church minister David Ogilvy signed the document, as did two witnesses.
The marriage only lasted 15 years as Barrie divorced his wife in London in 1909, after he discovered she was having an affair.
Barrie is thought to have first become acquainted with Mary in 1891, when he asked his friend Jerome K. Jerome for a pretty actress to play a role in his play Walker, London.
The marriage was conducted at a small ceremony at his parents’ home, following the tradition of the time.
In 1900 the couple moved to Black Lake Cottage in Farnham, Surrey, and it was eight years later that Mary began an affair with Barrie’s associate Gilbert Cannan.
Barrie sued for divorce on the grounds of infidelity, which was granted in October 1909.