Beatrix potter stories7/1/2023 ![]() Overall she bought 15 farms, saving lands from development, and was deeply involved in the rural life. The impression made upon young Beatrix by Hardwicke Rawnsley had lasted all this time and she adhered to the values and principles of the National Trust, making every effort to preserve her buildings and barns in keeping with the aesthetics of the rural area. She was also active in the local community, establishing a Nursing Trust for local villages and serving on various committees and councils. ![]() Beatrix thrived on country life and it inspired more of her best-loved stories, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Tom Kitten. They moved in to Castle Cottage, the renovated farmhouse on Castle Farm, in the village of Near Sawrey, while she kept a private studio and workshop at Hill Top Farm. Sign up to British Heritage Travel's daily newsletter here! Her parents, once again, disapproved of her choice, but her mind was made up and the couple married, on 15 October 1913, in London at St Mary Abbots, in Kensington. Beatrix was 47 when she married William Heelis, the local solicitor who had acted on her behalf. It was through her land purchases that she met her husband. She added to her land at every opportunity, purchasing neighbouring lands to add to the estate. The tenant farmer John Cannon and his family stayed on at the farm, managing it, while she set about learning all she could about fell farming and livestock husbandry. However, as an unmarried woman, she remained living with her parents. In 1905 she decided to put her money to use, and bought Hill Top Farm in her beloved Lake District. She also received an inheritance from an aunt. Lake District lifeĪs a successful author and businesswoman, Beatrix was making her own fortune. Despite their objections, the pair became engaged, but it was not to last long, as Warne tragically died of pernicious anaemia soon after, aged just 37. Her parents were opposed to the match as they considered a man working in a trade to be their social inferior. She had fallen in love with her editor, Norman Warne, one of the sons of the publishing house. All of these were were licensed by her publisher, Frederick Warne & Co, and earned them both a steady stream of profits.ĭespite her success, this era of Potter’s life was also marred by tragedy. Other spin-offs included painting books, board games, wallpaper, figurines, baby blankets and china tea-sets. As early as 1903 she had made a painted Peter Rabbit doll. The entrepreneurial spirit surfaced again, as she segued into merchandising. ![]() In September 1893, on a trip to Perthshire in Scotland, she penned what would become one of the most famous letters ever written, as she detailed, for Noel’s amusement, the fictional adventures of "four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter”. Annie’s eldest son, Noel, was often ill and Beatrix endeavoured to keep him entertained with lively letters. She often illustrated her letters with sketches, particularly writing to her old friend Annie’s children. The firm Hildesheimer and Faulkner bought several of her rabbit pictures to illustrate A Happy Pair, a book of verse by Frederic Weatherly, and the sales of more illustrations over the following years most certainly encouraged her determination to publish her own book of stories. This was the first sign of a savvy entrepreneurial spirit. In the 1890s, Beatrix and her brother began to put some of their drawings to use, printing them up as Christmas cards. Wild flowers outside Hill Top Beatrix Potter House, in the Lake District. His passion for the countryside made a great impression on nature-loving Beatrix. It was here that the teenage Beatrix first came into contact with Hardwicke Rawnsley, who was then vicar of Wray and later went on to become the founding secretary of the National Trust. They spent the summer at Wray Castle, near Lake Windermere. Little could her parents have predicted that their choice of summer holiday destination would have such a huge influence on the rest of their daughter’s life, and in turn, the Lake District itself. Annie went on to have eight children, and it was the illustrated letters Beatrix sent to those children which eventually evolved into her children’s books.įor many years the Potter family spent their summer holidays in Scotland, but in 1882 they went to the Lake District for the first time. Another key figure in this history was Beatrix’s last governess Annie Moore (née Carter), who was only three years older that her charge, and the two remained firm friends throughout their lives.
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