Beatrix Potter was born on the 28th of July 1866 in London. Her family were keen on nature and the outdoors and Potter spent most of her childhood holidays in Dalguise, where Potter explored and sketched, developing her artistic skills.
Beatrix and her brother, Bertram, also kept a menagerie of small pets, including mice, rabbits, and hedgehogs. The siblings observed the animals keenly and enjoyed sketching them. In 1882, the family made their first trip to the Lake District. Beatrix developed a love for the area and befriended a local vicar, Hardwicke Rawnsley, who shared and encouraged her love of the local countryside.
Recently, Beatrix Potter has been recognised for her scientific studies, alongside her drawing and storytelling skills. A keen amateur mycologist, Potter submitted a paper to the Linnean Society in 1897 entitled On the Germination of the Spores of the Agaricineae. Due to her sex, Beatrix Potter was not allowed to read her paper for the Society, and it was introduced by Kew botanist, George Massee.
Beatrix Potter held a lifelong interest in literature, particularly folk and fairy stories. Simultaneously, family friend Sir John Everett Millais recognised and encouraged Potter’s artistic skills and Beatrix began to create her own illustrations for stories such as Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. Her first commercially successful works as an illustrator were produced in the 1890s, as Potter created Christmas and occasion cards. Benjamin Bunny was drawn to illustrate Frederic Weatherley’s verses ‘A Happy Pair’ and Potter created a series of frog illustrations for the annual ‘Changing Pictures.’
The birth of Beatrix Potter’s children’s stories is often cited to be a letter sent to Noel Carter Moore, the eldest son of Potter’s former governess, Annie. To entertain Noel during a period of illness, Beatrix wrote to him about four little rabbits called Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter. ‘Peter Rabbit’ was evidently popular with Noel and his siblings, as Potter published a revised version of the work, privately for friends and family, in 1901. In 1902, the first trade edition of ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’ appeared and thousands of children were thus introduced to a series of books which would be endearingly popular.
Beatrix Potter’s literary success enabled her to purchase Hill Top Farm, near Sawrey in the Lake District. The farm was managed by William Heelis, whom Potter married in 1913. The couple lived in Castle Cottage, nearby Hill Top which was run by tenants. Alongside her writing, Beatrix Potter became well liked and active in local village life. With a keen interest in preserving the traditional methods of fell farming, Potter and Heelis (now Mr and Mrs Heelis) bought and managed Monk Coniston Estate in partnership with the National Trust.
Having led a long and happy life, leaving an incredible literary, conservationist and scientific life, Beatrix Potter passed away in her 70s, in 1943.