Beatrix Potter, Author and Conservationist, Born (1866)

Beatrix Potter, author of the classic children’s story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was born July 28, 1866.  Although she is famous for her many children’s books, which she both wrote and illustrated, she also became a leading British conservationist of the Lake District landscape.

Beatrix Potter in 1913 (photo by Charles G. Y. King)

            Potter was born and raised in London, the daughter of wealthy and socially traditional parents.  She was educated at home, raised to become a wife, mother and keeper of the household.  But Potter had other plans.  When her family vacationed during summers, first in Scotland and later in the English Lake District, she fell in love with the country.  She and he brother reveled in the rolling hills and dramatic waters of the Lake District and delighted in keeping pets of all kinds, from domestic animals to frogs and insects. 

            She was a keen observer of the animals’ appearance and habits and the landscapes in which they lived.  She wrote stories about them and drew their images in watercolor.  Her creativity was matched by the accuracy of her work.  So realistic were her drawings that she eventually produced scientific illustrations of plants and, especially, of her favorite organisms—fungi.

Scientific illustration of a fungus by Beatrix Potter

            Potter was also an entrepreneur.  She began writing stories and when her original story—The Tale of Peter Rabbit—was turned down by several publishers, she had 250 copies printed herself.  An insightful editor realized the quality of her work—charming, but not overly cute—and published the book in 1902 (since then, more than 5 million copies have been sold, and loved and cherished by children everywhere).  She developed and sold a doll of Peter Rabbit—the first character doll ever produced.  She also licensed and sold pottery, clothing, calendars and other book-related merchandise.  Potter wrote and illustrated 33 books in her lifetime, making her both famous and wealthy.

Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

            She used her wealth not for luxury—her country homes never had electricity or indoor plumbing—but to conserve the countryside she loved so much.  The Lake District had always attracted tourism, but after World War I, the attention grew exponentially.  Potter knew that large-scale development of the land would destroy the fragile hillside ecosystems, a quaint combination of natural and cultivated habitats.  So, she began buying farms.  First smaller properties, including her beloved Hill Top Farm (now a museum), then larger properties that would allow a unified landscape to survive and thrive.

            Her entrepreneurial spirit spilled over into her farming.  She learned how to farm, restored the productive capacity of her lands and became an expert breeder of sheep.  Her farms and fortune prospered, even as her ability to write and publish books waned.  She was particularly dedicated to preserving the traditional Herdwick sheep, the breed that was best adapted to the cold environment and varied forage of the Lake District.

Potter helped conserve the stunning countryside of the English Lake District (photo by Peer Lawther)

            She became a close confidant of the founders of the National Trust, the English non-profit organization that owns and manages historic properties and natural areas.  She donated all her property—15 farms totaling 4000 acres—to the National Trust, an estate valued at about $20 million at her death in 1943 ($300 millon today).   Her proviso:  that the properties remain exactly as she left them, down to the furniture and wall covering she left.  Most importantly, that proviso assured that the Lake District landscape would remain the same charming landscape that generations have loved for its natural beauty and cultural significance. 

References:

Beatrix Potter Society.  About Peatrix Potter.  Available at:  https://beatrixpottersociety.org.uk/about-beatrix/.  Accessed July 28, 2017.

Lear, Linda.  2017.  Beatrix Potter:  A Life in Nature.  Available at:  http://www.bpotter.com/Default.aspx. Accessed July 28, 2017.

National Trust.  Beatrix Potter’s early life and books.  Available at:  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead/features/beatrix-potters-early-life-and-books. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Thomson, Keith Stewart.  2007.  Marginalia:  Beatrix Potter, Conservationist.  American Scientist 95(3):210-212.  Available at:  http://www.jstor.org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/stable/pdf/27858956.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Aa434bf2c67f89b4a712b13db0f7f46da. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Victoria and Albert Museum.  Biography of Beatrix Potter.  Available at:  http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/biography-beatrix-potter/. Accessed July 28, 2017.

This Month in Conservation

March 1
Yellowstone National Park Established (1872)
March 2
Theodore Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, Born (1904)
March 3
World Wildlife Day and Creation of CITES (1973)
March 3
Isle Royale National Park Authorized (1931)
March 4
Hot Springs National Park Established (1921)
March 5
Lynn Margulis, Evolutionary Biologist, Born (1938)
March 6
Martha Burton Williamson, Pioneering Malacologist, Born (1843)
March 7
Luther Burbank Born (1849)
March 8
Everett Horton Patents the Telescoping Fishing Rod (1887)
March 9
The Turbot War Begins (1995)
March 10
Cape Lookout National Seashore Established (1966)
March 11
Save the Redwoods League Founded (1918)
March 12
Girl Scouts Founded (1912)
March 12
Charles Young, First African American National Park Superintendent, Born (1864)
March 13
National Elephant Day, Thailand
March 14
First National Wildlife Refuge Created (1903)
March 15
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, Born (1874)
March 16
Amoco Cadiz Runs Aground (1978)
March 17
St. Patrick and Ireland’s Snakes
March 18
Nation’s First Wildlife Refuge Created (1870)
March 19
When the Swallows Return to Capistrano
March 20
“Our Common Future” Published (1987)
March 21
International Day of Forests
March 22
World Water Day
March 23
Sitka National Historical Park Created (1910)
March 24
John Wesley Powell, Western Explorer, Born (1834)
March 25
Norman Borlaug, Father of the Green Revolution, Born (1914)
March 26
Marjorie Harris Carr, Pioneering Florida Conservationist, Born (1915)
March 26
Kruger National Park Established (1898)
March 27
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Begun (1975)
March 28
Joseph Bazalgette, London’s Sewer King, Born (1819)
March 29
Niagara Falls Stops Flowing (1848)
March 30
The United States Buys Alaska (1867)
March 31
Al Gore, Environmental Activist and U.S. Vice President, Born (1948)
January February March April May June July August September October November December