JULY'S AUTHOR by Sharon Tregenza

BEATRIX POTTER

Beatrix Potter was born on July 28th, 1866, in South Kensington, London. She was the only daughter of Rupert and Helen Potter. She had one sibling, a younger brother, Bertram.

Although she didn't go to school (she was taught at home by a governess) she learned to read from Sir Walter Scott's novels. She was very interested in science and developed a theory about the germination of fungus spores.

She made her debut as an author and illustrator in the 1890s when her illustrated letters to a sick child found their way to a publisher. This was the first version of THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT. The years between 1905 and 1930 were Potter's most productive. She published a number of children's books with the meticulous water colour illustrations she's known for.

 


At the age of 47 Potter married the solicitor William Heelis. On her father's death she received a large inheritance and in 1923 she bought a sheep farm where she spent her last 30 years raising sheep.

Beatrix Potter died in Sawrey, Lancashire on December 22nd, 1943. She left several thousand acres of land to the National Trust. This included Hill top Farm the setting of many of her 

books.

Five Facts About Beatrix Potter:

1. She was actually christened Helen but was known by her middle name of Beatrix.

2. Peter was modelled on her own pet rabbit, Benjamin Bouncer. She sometimes took him for walks on a lead.

3. She understood merchandising and made her own Peter Rabbit doll, which she patented.

4. Potter kept a journal in a code so difficult to crack it took many years.

5. She was an award winning sheep farmer and President of the Hardwick's Sheepbreeder's association.

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