Spoiler alert: Peter Pan DID grow up! In fact, The Fairy Tale Genealogist has uncovered evidence of a mid-life crisis for ol’ Pete. Yes, vital records can be valuable in piecing together the untold stories of fictional characters.
Certain characteristics of childhood that may have served him well as the leader of the Lost Boys might have caught up with Peter Pan in later years, after immigrating from Neverland to Texas, as we see from divorce and marriage and divorce-again records. Being “the boy who wouldn’t grow up” has certain disadvantages in matrimony!
Vital records indexes show us that Wendy Darling may have dodged a bullet. At age 58 Peter divorced his wife of 33 years (whose name I have redacted to protect her privacy), but a little over two years later eloped to Las Vegas with a 27 year-old woman.
Of course, vital records indexes can give a lot of information in and of themselves, but always try to obtain the original document using the details provided in the index. You will be rewarded with much more–possibly the names of their parents, birthplaces, signatures, and names of witnesses if you are lucky.
The marriage index does not give his new bride’s age, but the divorce index three years later does (and whose name I again have redacted)…
I don’t know what these divorces cost Peter Pan, but I’m thinking it might have saved him a lot of trouble and money to just buy the red sportscar in the first place.
Stay tuned for a look at Captain Hook’s birth record, and an update on Wendy. The Fairy Tale Genealogist can hardly wait to share!
On Granny's Trail 