Author profile

Beatrix Potter was born in London in 1866 to Rupert and Helen Potter. Educated by governesses, Potter spent much of her childhood isolated from children, apart from her younger brother Bertram. Her love of nature and her artistic skills were nurtured during long family holidays in Scotland and the Lake District, where the siblings were given freedom to explore the countryside. Potter’s professional career began when she painted and sold greetings cards, most of which included drawings of animals. Later, she turned one of her illustrated stories into a book, which she shared with family and friends. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902 and it was an immediate success. Further books followed at a rate of two or three each year, until Potter had published a total of 23 little books.

In 1905 Potter bought a farm in the Lake District and she spent the remainder of her life living and working there, along with William Heelis, the solicitor she married in 1913. Potter died in December 1943 and left almost all her land and property to the National Trust.


Portrait of Beatrix Potter. Courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., and The Victoria and Albert Museum