We all know Beatrix Potter as the author and illustrator of the wonderfully charming Peter Rabbit children’s book series. But did you know that she was also a committed conservationist, businesswoman and, perhaps most interestingly, mycologist?
Helen Beatrix Potter was born to parents Rupert and Helen in London in 1866, but, as an older woman, Potter claimed that this connection to the capital was purely ‘an accident of birth.’ Her heart belonged to the North, and in particular, to the Lake District, a place marked in her early years as a summer holiday destination, but which later became her true home.
Potter’s father was a keen photographer; she inherited this creative passion, but instead channelled it into her artwork and, later, her masterful storytelling. Potter’s aptitude for illustration was recognised even in her youth. At the age of 12, she began to take lessons in drawing and painting, and her natural skill for these was commended only a year later by an ‘excellent’ rating in an official examination.
But, as a young woman who had been born into an upper-middle class family in the 19th century, Potter, although encouraged by her father, was nonetheless effectively trapped in the cycle of forced leisure and domesticity for women. She was itching to find a path to make use of her passion in a way that also proved sufficiently intellectually stimulating for a sheltered young girl, educated at home. And so she turned to mycology, the study of fungi.
In the field of botanical illustration, flower paintings had already become a cemented practice for young girls by Potter’s time. However, fungi illustration was still a relatively new area, due mostly to the lack of understanding at the time of their anatomy. It was not until the mid-19th century that mushroom drawings began to emulate their predecessor the flower drawings’ lauded combination of artistry and scientific accuracy, with the publication of Mrs TJ Hussey’s Illustrations of British Mycology. It is likely that Potter came across this work which brought vibrancy and interest to the previously dull world of mycology, because she herself began to turn to such artwork.
Many have remarked that Potter’s illustrations brought a never-before-seen realism to the realm. Her drawings, many of which are currently on display in the Armitt Museum in Ambleside, Cumbria, evoke a rich sensory experience, as well as including informative labelling. The Armitt says of Potter’s portraits: ‘one can see them, touch them, and almost smell them.’ Seeing these paintings for myself, I had no doubt that these works were created by the same hand as that which brought to life the likes of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck et al. Potter’s intricacy is astounding, and yet there remains something playfully endearing about her works. I believe that this effect is in part brought about by her choice of the watercolour medium, an absolute classic for early children’s book illustrations.
Potter’s career as an illustrator began in 1890 when her and her younger brother’s ambition to buy a printing machine was curtailed by a lack of sufficient funds. But, not too far set back to have given up on her dream, Potter was encouraged to pursue another route by her uncle Harry. Sir Henry ‘Harry’ Roscoe believed that any publisher would be delighted to get their hands on Potter’s illustrations for Christmas cards. He was right. Hildesheimer & Faulkner not only took Potter’s designs at their asking price, but clamoured for more. Thus began a new era: Beatrix Potter, published illustrator. By 1894, publishers were competing for her artwork, and the records of her letters and chequebook show her budding eye for business.
As well as to draft her artwork, Potter used her personal journal to practice her storytelling skills. But it was in letters to the children of friends and family that her wit and literary prowess shone the brightest. In an illustrated letter to the son of her former governess, Potter brought into the world the mischievous little creature who was to be her most lucrative brainchild: Peter Rabbit. Although publicly unrecognised for seven years, this story – the first in Potter’s series of 23 children’s tales – eventually skyrocketed her to global fame.
Upon her death in 1943, Potter had left us with a global legacy as the creator of a wonderful fantasy world where animals could speak and got into no end of trouble. Her stories – translated into no less than 36 languages – have captivated the imaginations of generations of children, past, present and future. Today, on average, she still sells one book every fifteen seconds.
But despite her success – and a net worth of almost £17 million in today’s money – Potter chose to lead a peaceful life with her husband William Heelis in the South Lakes, the place that had sparked so much of her enthusiasm for the natural world on holidays as a child. Hill Top Farm and Castle Farm were two of the estates she bought, and were where she dedicated much of her time to sheep breeding and other farming activities. Potter’s ambitions as a conservationist came to the forefront when she began to realise the serious threat that industrial development posed to the beauty and biodiversity of the Lake District. She used her wealth to protect land by buying it, and her most notable purchase was of the 4000 acre Monk Coniston estate in 1930, which included the picturesque Tarn Hows. Potter shared management of this land with the National Trust, the organisation to which she left this land in her will. Today, the National Trust continues its conservation in her name.
Beatrix Potter was indeed a remarkable woman. She was a person with multiple interests, and yet dedicated the utmost time and energy to each of them equally. Despite having no children herself, Potter’s delightful tales live on within all of us, and yet, as I discovered myself, much about her life beyond her publications remains unknown to the majority of the public.
I give my thanks to the Armitt Museum for the information I provide here, and I hope that with this brief biography I can do my part to tell the story of one of the nation’s best storytellers.
