1. The life of Beatrix Potter

2. 28 July 1866 July 1905 Beatrix Potter Timeline
Can you sequence the events in Beatrix Potter’s life?
She became unofficially engaged to her editor Norman Warne in 1905 despite the disapproval of her parents, but he died suddenly a month later of leukemia.
With the proceeds from the books and a legacy from an aunt, Potter bought Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey, a tiny village in the English Lake District near Windermere, in 1905.
born Helen Beatrix Potter; 28 July 1866
28 July 1866
1902
July 1905
The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was publishied privately as a small, three-colour illustrated book

3. Beatrix Potter Timeline
Can you sequence the events in Beatrix Potter’s life?
Potter published over 23 books: the best known are those written between 1902 and 1922.
1943
1913
In 1913, at the age of 47, she married William Heelis, a respected local solicitor from Hawkshead.
She died of pneumonia/heart disease on 22 December 1943 at her home in Near Sawrey at age 77, leaving almost all her property to the National Trust.

4. (Photograph: Beatrix, aged 9, courtesy of Warne Archive.)
Early days
A little girl in Victorian England, Beatrix Potter was taught at home by governesses and studied art while her brother was sent away to school.
She was a shy, reserved personality when interacting with the outside world, but her secret diary written in her own code, revealed a lively young girl with highly critical opinions of her fellow artists.
(Photograph: Beatrix, aged 9, courtesy of Warne Archive.)

5. Beatrix Potter - the artist.
Despite not going to school Beatrix was an enthusiastic student of nature, teaching herself while painting and drawing the things she saw around her. Her childhood sketches reveal an early fascination for the subject which would continue throughout her life. She also painted many exquisite landscapes that show her pleasure in the countryside.

6. Beatrix Potter - the artist.
Beatrix and her brother, Bertram, kept many animals in their schoolroom, from mice to birds and lizards to snakes. Beatrix Potter's pets were often subjects for sketches and paintings, and were later to inspire the much-loved characters in her books.

7. Beatrix Potter - the artist.
In 1893 Beatrix Potter wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit in a picture letter to a little boy she knew who had been ill for a long time. In 1901 she went on to privately print 250 copies of the tale in time for Christmas. A sign of the future success of this little story, these first copies sold very quickly at a shilling each, meaning she quickly had to print another 200 two weeks later.

8. Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1902 with an initial 8000 copies printed and the tale has never been out of print since.
She went on to publish another 22 little books over the next 28 years, the proceeds from which enabled her to buy Hill Top Farm in the Lake District. Eventually she went on to own 15 farms and over 4,000 acres of land in the area.

9. Where is the Lake District?

10. Where is the Lake District?

11. Lake District

12. Lake District

13. Lake District

14. Hill Top Farm
Beatrix had always loved the Lake District since childhood holidays, and now, with the money she was earning from her Peter Rabbit books she
was able to buy
Hill Top Farm
in the village
of Sawrey.

15. Hill Top Farm
She kept on the farm manager, John Cannon, and invested in a flock of Herdwick sheep. She could not stay in her beloved new home because she was expected to take care of her parents in London, but it was her first
step to independence,
and she visited it
whenever she could.

16. Life at Hill Top Farm
Beatrix Potter had always been interested in 'real' animals, and after her marriage to William Heelis in 1913 she was able to settle in the Lake District permanently, and devote herself almost entirely to her farming.
By the end of her life, Beatrix has bought fifteen farms, and took a very active part in caring for them. Dressed in her clogs, shawl and old tweed skirt, she helped with the hay making, waded through mud to unblock drains and searched the fells for lost sheep. She said she was at her happiest when she was with her farm animals.

17. Writing at Hill Top Farm
Beatrix Potter used Hill Top as the backdrop for several of her tales. The first was The Tale of Tom Kitten, which she wrote in She included favourite views of her new home in the Tales of Jemima Puddle-duck, Samuel Whiskers and Pigling Bland and Ginger and Pickles' shop is set in Sawrey village. In 1947 the National Trust opened the house to the public and receives thousands of visitors a year.