Fabiny - Who Was Beatrix Potter?

Helen Beatrix Potter was born on July 28, 1866. She was the first child of Helen and Rupert Potter. Because her mother was also named Helen, Beatrix was called by her middle name. The Potters lived at Two Bolton Gardens, a big house in a fashionable neighborhood in London. Both of Beatrixs parents came from wealthy families. Although both families had earned their money through hard work, the Potters no longer had to work. They led a very comfortable and carefree life.

Like many parents at the time, Rupert and Helen Potter did not change the way they lived because they had a child. Mr. Potter went to his club and Mrs. Potter visited friends while Beatrix stayed at home with her nanny. One of the rules in the Potter household was that Beatrix was to be seen and not heard, and maybe not even seen that much.

When Beatrix was five years old, her brother, Bertram, was born. Beatrix was excited to finally have someone to share her life with.

Beatrix and Bertram spent almost all their time in the nursery. It was on the top floor of the Potters big house. Both children were imaginative and creative. They collected all kinds of creatures that lived in the garden.

Nurse Mackenzie was Beatrixs nanny. She told Beatrix stories from Scotland, where she was from. The stories were often about fairies and witches who lived in magical forests. After Bertram was born, Miss Hammond came to work for the Potters. She taught the children school subjects. She also taught them to draw and paint. Beatrix loved her art lessons with Miss Hammond.

Cox, the butler, helped sneak animals from the garden up to Beatrix and Bertrams bedroom.

Over the years, the third-floor collection included frogs, rabbits, lizards, mice, a snake, bats, a duck, snails, and hedgehogs. The animals were kept in cages. But they were allowed out when the children were sketching and drawing them.

Helen Potter was a stern mother. As a girl, she had enjoyed drawing, dancing, and needlework. But once she became a wife and mother, she spent her time keeping a tidy and orderly house. She made sure Beatrix and Bertram lived by certain rules. They were always in clean, starched clothes, their hair was always combed, and their faces and hands were always scrubbed clean. She didnt want Beatrix and Bertram to have friends because she believed that other children carried germs. Her son and daughter might get sick!

Rupert Potter was more loving. He also liked to sketch, and he was interested in the new art of photography. When he saw that his daughter had a talent for drawing, Rupert Potter encouraged it. He often took her to visit museums and the studios of artists who were his friends. Mr. Potter introduced Beatrix to the artist John Everett Millais. She visited his studio often and had a chance to see how an artist worked and lived.