Beatrix Potter

timeline

born 1866

Beatrix Potter is known worldwide for her charming children's stories featuring mischievous, anthropomorphic animals. She was also a noted naturalist, fascinated by fungi. The cute creatures in her books were all modeled on the real-life tiny inhabitants of her many farms ~ even as a child, she boarded the train for family holidays with boxes + baskets of her mice, rabbits + other pets. Her love of nature extended to land conservation, and she was an active supporter of the National Trust ~ acting as de facto land agent, managing her own farms as well as Trust properties...ensuring the preservation of beautiful places for the enjoyment of all, now + in the future.

bio bits

known for

charming children's stories | The Tale of Peter Rabbit has its origins in a picture letter to Noel Moore, the son of Beatrix's former governess Annie {his brother Eric got Mr. Jeremy Fisher} ~ she was meticulous about mapping actual animal behavior to the creatures in her stories {wood mice really do appear to rear on their hind legs and "dance" in greeting!}.

historic preservation | A champion of the National Trust, Beatrix left her 15 farms to the charity when she died, ensuring they'd be maintained + protected ~ and open for everyone to visit. Hill Top Farm, the setting of many of her stories, is the most famous. She played an active role in their management, working closely with her caretakers ~ she won silver challenge cup for best Herdwick ewe in 1930 + served as the president of Herdwick Sheepbreeder's Association {the first woman to do so}.

business savvy | She actively protected her copyrights, pursuing the inevitable infringements. One of the first to explore extensive merchandising, from cuddly toys to board games ~ all of which she personally designed, to stay faithful to the original illustrations. The Beatrix Potter collection currently has more than 400 license holders!

three big moments

1882 | first visit to her beloved Lake District. She buys Hill Top Farm 23 years later, in 1905.

1890 | buys first rabbit, Benjamin Bouncer, from a pet shop. 2 years later, she sells six watercolour paintings of the bunny to the greetings card firm, Hildesheimer & Faulkner, and adopts Peter.

1901 | private publication of Peter Rabbit. The beloved Warne & Co. version is published the following year {after rejecting it earlier}. It's not her first published work ~ her paper on mushroom spores + reproduction was published by London's Linnean Society in 1897, to say nothing of the publication of her drawings.

fast facts

from | to

lonely upper-middle class daughter | celebrated author + illustrator

born on

July 28, 1866

born in

2 Bolton Gardens
Kensington, London

birth name

Helen Beatrix Potter

known as

Beatrix

citizen of

the United Kingdom

daughter of

Rupert + Helen
~ Rupert, an accomplished amateur photographer, was friends with
photographer Sir John Edward Millais ~ he helped Rupert + Helen encourage her artistic talent ~

granddaughter of

Edmund Potter
~ co-founder of Manchester School of Design ~

sister of

Walter Bertram

grew up in | lived in

London

holidays in Scotland, at Dalguise House, and the Lake District

the Lake District {Hill Top Farm + Castle Cottage}

educated at | studied with

home | governesses

~ Annie Carter Moore was her last teacher, and Beatrix sent picture letters {the stars of which include Peter Rabbit and Mr. Jeremy Fisher} to Annie's children ~

Charles McIntosh ~ encouraged her studies of fungus

loved studying

art + natural sciences
~ the characters' behaviors in her children's books is influenced by her studies of animals ~

engaged to

~ publisher Norman Warne proposed in July of 1905, against her parents' opposition, but died a month later of a blood disorder ~ their story is dramatized in the 2006 film, Miss Potter ~

married to

William Heelis, solicitor | October 15, 1913
~ her parents opposed his position "in trade" as they had done with Norman Warne ~

advocate for | worked alongside

conservation | met Hardwicke Rawnsley, later founder of the National Trust, when she was 16

in her spare time

kept secret diary
~ written in code, which was broken 15 years after her death ~

raised sheep
~ key figure in saving Herdwick breed from extinction ~

farming
~ purchased + managed 15 farms ~

died on

December 22, 1943
~ Castle Cottage, Sawrey ~

collapse bio bits

today

explore

her quotes

all quotes by Beatrix Potter (14)

"Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest."
Beatrix Potter | september 1884

"My dear Noel, I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter."
to Noel Moore, introducing Peter Rabbit | september 1893

"What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood..."
journal entry | november 1896

"We find some people make theories out of dried specimens without the least experience of the way things grow."
to Charles McIntosh | january 1897

"I am sure the crabs & shrimps join hands and caper about when the tide is coming in and the children have gone home."
journal entry | august 1905

"Jemima Puddle-duck was a simpleton: not even the mention of sage and onions made her suspicious."
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck | july 1908

"It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific.' I have never felt sleepy after eating lettuces; but then I am not a rabbit."
The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies | july 1909

"Dreadfully shy, but I am sure he will be more comfortable married."
to Fanny Cooper {quoted in Beatrix Potter: a Life in Nature by Linda Lear} | october 1913

"Once upon a time there was a serious, well-behaved young black cat. It belonged to a kind old lady who assured me that no other cat could compare with Kitty . . . She called it 'Kitty,' but Kitty called herself 'Miss Catherine St Quintin.'"
The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots | circa 1914

"I can not write if I am out of humour."
to Henry P. Coolidge | june 1928

"There are seasons when things go wrong; and they just have to be lived through."
to Henry P. Coolidge | june 1928

"Do you not feel it is rather pleasing to be so much wiser than quantities of young idiots?"
to Caroline | 1936

"I begin to assert myself at 70."
to Caroline | 1936

"There's nothing like open air for soothing present anxiety and memories of past sadness."
to Mrs. Wight, her friend & neighbor | june 1942

quoteurs we recommend...

Emily Graslie
natural sciences curiousity correspondent

Rachel Carson
queen of conservation

Rose O'Neill
feminist artist + Kewpie inventor

for further reading about Beatrix Potter: