Beatrix Potter's gift to the Lake District

By Siobhan Millar

The work of Beatrix Potter has entertained children all over the world for decades, and her popularity is ever-increasing. Liz Hunter MacFarlane, House and Collections manager of The Beatrix Potter Gallery at Hawkshead favours The Tale of Pigling Bland; its lead character Alexander, reminds her of her brother who shares his name with the hero of the story. Most people have a favourite tale by Potter, and it is often reasons like these that make them special to us.

It is clear from the illustrations in her books that Beatrix was influenced by her surroundings in the Lake District. It is widely assumed that she hailed from this part of the country, but she was actually born in South Kensington, London, in July 1866. She made her first visit to the Lakes in her late teens when her family rented a house on the shores of Lake Windermere for the summer.

During this holiday Beatrix met Canon Rownsley, one of the three founding members of The National Trust. He instilled in Potter a sense that the landscape of the area needed conserving because it was at risk. Ms Hunter MacFarlane says: “It was this love of landscape and the way of life there that made her write her books.”

Beatrix was passionate about writing, but it was not something that her parents approved of. “Publishing was not an acceptable past time for a woman, and that caused differences in the family. In those days, a woman belonged to her parents until she got married, and then she belonged to her husband,” said Ms Hunter MacFarlane.

But Beatrix continued to write, and in 1905 at the age of 39 the money she made from publishing her books allowed her to buy Hilltop Farm in Sawrey. This was her first step towards independence. Her time there inspired her, and people who lived in the village and their pets featured in some of her work: her character Farmer Potatoes was based on a man called Farmer Poselthwaite who lived in Sawrey, and John Doormouse from Ginger and Pickles was based on John Taylor, who ran the village shop.

By the time she married at the age of 47 Potter had bought properties throughout the Lake District. She was a wealthy, established author. Because of this it never occurred to her husband that she should stop writing, and she continued into old age.

Potter died in December 1943 aged 77, and left her land and properties to The National Trust. To us, she left her books, work inspired by the beautiful backdrop of the Lakes. Despite their age, they are still a much loved legacy from a woman who it would seem truly followed her dreams.