Beatrix Potter Biography

Beatrix Potter was a writer, illustrator and conservationist. She is best remembered for her best-selling children’s books, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Stories that combined her love for both animals and the English countryside. In her later life, she bought a substantial amount of land in the Lake District and on her death donated it to the National Trust, helping to preserve a significant part of the Lake District national park.

Short bio Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter (28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943)

beatrix-potter-child Beatrix was born in Kensington, London to middle-class, Unitarian parents. Her father, Robert, was a distinguished lawyer, and her mother the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Her parents were also artistic and this artistic talent was passed on to Beatrix.

She spent much of her early life in her own company; she rarely saw her brother Ewan, who was sent to boarding school. Having little social contact with children of her own age, Beatrix began to be drawn into her own world of creating her own stories, based on animals. Beatrix was a naturally gifted artist, and with some art lessons, she also learnt the technical side of drawing. She later wrote:

“Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.

potter During her childhood, and especially in the Lake District, she looked after many animals, such as; rabbits, frogs, and even bats. She drew these animals throughout her childhood, gradually improving the standard of her drawings. Beatrix was also interested in natural history; she would spend many hours drawing wildlife such as fungi and flowers. At one time she had aspirations to develop this scientific interest professionally. An uncle tried to help her become a student at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, but she was rejected because of her gender. Nevertheless, she later became respected for her contribution to mycology – the study of fungi.

In her early 20s, Beatrix’s parents tried to arrange a suitable partner for Beatrix to marry. Many suitable suitors were found; however, for each prospective marriage partnership Beatrix turned them down. She was a fiercely independent woman, and she disliked the idea of being tied down to an uneventful domestic life of staying at home and bringing up children. Thus, unusually for the late Victorian time period, Beatrix remained single and stayed at home.

Publication of Peter Rabbit Books

In her 20s that she sought to try and get her children’s book and drawings published. Her initial attempts proved unsuccessful, but she persevered and eventually it was taken on by Frederick Warne & Company. The first book was published in 1902 when Beatrix was 36. The publishers did not have much hope it would sell many copies; they actually gave the project to their youngest brother, Norman, as a kind of test for his first project. However, Norman proved to be a good choice. He warmed to both the book and Beatrix. He was determined to make a success of the book and developed a good working relationship with Beatrix as they pored over the individual details of the book. It was Norman who insisted that each drawing of Peter Rabbit would be in colour. Beatrix insisted that the book remain small, so that it would be easy for children to hold. By the end of the year, 28,000 copies were in print.

Beatrix also had a good business sense. As early as 1903, she patented a Peter Rabbit doll. These spin-offs provided a good source of additional income, enabling her to become wealthy.

Relationship with Norman Warne

The relationship between Norman and Beatrix blossomed, and eventually, they became engaged in 1906. However, Beatrix’s parents disapproved. They felt it wrong for Beatrix to marry a tradesman. However, they eventually relented, but insisted Beatrix live apart for 6 months; giving her time to change her mind. Tragically, before the wedding could take place, Norman passed away, dying of pernicious anaemia. Beatrix was devastated, she wrote a letter to his sister, Millie, saying; “He did not live long, but he fulfilled a useful happy life. I must try to make a fresh beginning next year.”

After his death, Beatrix moved to the Lakeland. In 1905, she bought Hill Top Farm, in Sawrey, Cumbria. She lived here for the remainder of her life. Due to failing eyesight, Beatrix later stopped writing her children books; instead, she devoted her time to the breading of sheep and helping the conservation of Lakeland farms. She was particularly interested in the breeding and raising of local Herdwick sheep, and she became one of the major Herdwick sheep farmers of the area. She felt very much at home in the local agricultural shows:

I hate publicity, and I have contrived to survive to be an old woman without it, except in the homey atmosphere of Agricultural Shows. [1939 interview]

beatrix-potter-husband

Beatrix Potter with William Heelis

She married William Heelis in 1913 when she was 47. The couple were childless, though Beatrix played an active role in William’s extended family, such as his many nieces of his brothers and sisters. In this later period, her writing tailed off. She only wrote and drew a small quantity, mostly for her own interest. Her life was taken up with farming, conservation, and looking after her family.

Beatrix Potter – Conservation in Lake District

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Due to proceeds from her very successful books and later her inheritance, Beatrix was able to buy many working farms. On her death, she left over 4,000 acres to the National Trust. It is one of the biggest legacies’s ever made.

Potter wrote 23 books. Some of her best-known titles include:

  • The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902)
  • The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (1903)
  • The Tailor of Gloucester (1903)
  • The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904)
  • The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904)
  • The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (1905)
  • The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan (1905)
  • The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher (1906)
  • The Story of A Fierce Bad Rabbit (1906)

In 2007 a film Miss Potter was released, starring Renée Zellweger. It focused mainly on the events surrounding her early publications, and romance with Norman Warne.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Beatrix Potter Biography”, Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net, published 29 May 2012, Last updated 22 September 2019.

The Story of Beatrix Potter

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The Story of Beatrix Potter at Amazon

 

Quotes of Beatrix Potter

“Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest.”

– Beatrix Potter

I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense…

Journal entry (1896-11-17), from the National Trust collection.

Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were – Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902)

Don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden: your father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

“The place is changed now, and many familiar faces are gone, but the greatest change is myself. I was a child then, I had no idea what the world would be like. I wished to trust myself on the waters and the sea. Everything was romantic in my imagination. The woods were peopled by the mysterious good folk. The Lords and Ladies of the last century walked with me along the overgrown paths, and picked the old fashioned flowers among the box and rose hedges of the garden.”

— Beatrix Potter

“It sometimes happens that the town child is more alive to the fresh beauty of the country than a child who is country born. My brother and I were born in London…but our descent, our interest and our joy were in the north country’.

Quoted in The Tale of Beatrix Potter a Biography by Margaret Lane, First Edition p 32-33”
— Beatrix Potter

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  • Beatrix Potter Quotes