Every year my parents would travel to Scotland and rent Dalguise House for us to stay. Oh, how wonderful those times were to me!
“I was a child then, I had no idea what the world would be like… Everything was romantic in my imagination… I remember every stone, every tree, the scent of the heather, the murmuring of the wind through the fir trees. Even when the thunder growled in the distance, and the wind swept up the valley in fearful gusts, oh, it was always beautiful, home sweet home. I knew nothing of trouble then.”
It was there while walking through the landscape, that I was able to nourish my love for nature and inspired my interest in natural history (which I have already posted about here).
I suppose it should be no surprise that I would take such a strong interest in environmental conservation and purchase so much farmland as an adult!
Sources
Lane, Margaret. The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne Publishers: London, 1978, pp. 19-23. (Quote, p 21-22).
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Farms and the National Trust
Because of the success of my little books, I found myself with a great sum of money large enough to purchase my own farm. I bought Hill Top in 1905, but was not able to live there year round as I would have wished. You see, dear reader, women who had not married during this time, were not allowed to be on their own (there was not a law against it, but to do so would be looked down upon by everyone), and my mother was no exception. She made it clear to me that she needed me at home, so I had to make do with visiting my farm as much as possible.
To take care of my land since I could not be there year round, I employed Mr. and Mrs. Cannon. My farm offered great inspiration to me- I loved to paint and draw the land, the gardens, and the home. I loved to go for walks around the area- it was so beautiful and peaceful.
As the years past, I bough more land, and as I bought more land, I became more and more involved in environmental conservation. Do you know what that means? That means that I prevented the land in my beloved Lake District from being ruined by railways, forestry (in which all the trees would have been chopped down), and turning the whole area into a city like London. Since we already had one London, we did not need another. Instead, we needed to preserve farmland, a way that kept the land as close to nature as possible.
I eventually donated 4,000 acres of farmland to England’s National Trust, which preserves land so that people for years to come may it enjoy it as I do.
Source
Lane, Margaret. The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne Publishers: London, 1978, pp.140-141.
Mackey, Margaret. The Case of Peter Rabbit, Changing Conditions of Literature for Children. Garland Publishing: New York, 1998, pp. 130-131.
“The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter.” Film, 2002.
To take care of my land since I could not be there year round, I employed Mr. and Mrs. Cannon. My farm offered great inspiration to me- I loved to paint and draw the land, the gardens, and the home. I loved to go for walks around the area- it was so beautiful and peaceful.
As the years past, I bough more land, and as I bought more land, I became more and more involved in environmental conservation. Do you know what that means? That means that I prevented the land in my beloved Lake District from being ruined by railways, forestry (in which all the trees would have been chopped down), and turning the whole area into a city like London. Since we already had one London, we did not need another. Instead, we needed to preserve farmland, a way that kept the land as close to nature as possible.
I eventually donated 4,000 acres of farmland to England’s National Trust, which preserves land so that people for years to come may it enjoy it as I do.
Source
Lane, Margaret. The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne Publishers: London, 1978, pp.140-141.
Mackey, Margaret. The Case of Peter Rabbit, Changing Conditions of Literature for Children. Garland Publishing: New York, 1998, pp. 130-131.
“The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter.” Film, 2002.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
My Interest in Natural History
Natural history has always been one of my great interests. As a teenager, my brother and I would collect anything we could get our hands on- plants, animals, and insects. If we found a dead animal, we would recreate its skeleton without its skin and organs. Everything we collected we would draw, paint and describe in notebooks.
In one notebook I wrote the following when I was eight, about a particular insect:
“The caterpillar of the tiger feeds on the nettle and hawthorn and is found in June, they are covered with black, white, and red. They are found by roadsides and lanes.”
After I no longer had a governess to teach me my lessons, I would spend long hours in the Natural History Museum in London. Entomology (that is the study of insects) continued to fascinate me. I loved to look at the tiniest beings under microscopes and then draw them the best that I could. By my late twenties I had learned so much about fungi that I presented a paper to the Linnean Society about my discoveries on the germination of a certain species.
But soon after I would begin to write my little stories and grow an interest in keeping land in its natural state.
What are your hobbies?
Source
Lane, Margaret. The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne Publishers: London, 1978, pp.23-29, 39-41.
In one notebook I wrote the following when I was eight, about a particular insect:
“The caterpillar of the tiger feeds on the nettle and hawthorn and is found in June, they are covered with black, white, and red. They are found by roadsides and lanes.”
After I no longer had a governess to teach me my lessons, I would spend long hours in the Natural History Museum in London. Entomology (that is the study of insects) continued to fascinate me. I loved to look at the tiniest beings under microscopes and then draw them the best that I could. By my late twenties I had learned so much about fungi that I presented a paper to the Linnean Society about my discoveries on the germination of a certain species.
But soon after I would begin to write my little stories and grow an interest in keeping land in its natural state.
What are your hobbies?
Source
Lane, Margaret. The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne Publishers: London, 1978, pp.23-29, 39-41.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
My Family
Many People often inquire about my family, so I have decided to indulge those wishes and dedicate this post to that cause.
I was born on July 28, 1866 (though in England we would write it as 28 July 1866) at No. 2 Bolton Garden, West Brompton (which would later be destroyed in the German air raids in World War II). There I lived with my parents Rupert and Hellen Potter, and my brother Bertram, who was born five years after me.
My father was a barrister and solicitor (or a "lawyer" to my American friends). But because he came from a wealthy family, and he was wealthy, he does not seem to have ever actually practiced law! Instead, he spent his days at his clubs. One could say that I inherited my great interest in drawing from my father, though he later turned his attention to photography. And, of course, he was quite good at it!
My mother also came from a well-off family. In those days it was not proper for a woman of my mother's social status to work. Therefore my mother spent her days visiting friends and acquaintances, and doing embroidery work. She would also dabble in the art of the paint brush, but generally preferred that of the needle. She also involved herself with charity work by transcribing books into braille for a London Blind Association (people who are unable to see the words in books are able to learn to read braille by feeling the bumps imprinted on paper that stand for letters).
Growing up my brother Bertram spent most of the year away at boarding school. But during the summer he was with us in Scotland or the Lake District. We both shared a strong interest in in nature and enjoyed studying it together. Once we found an old printing press and had great fun in making prints. It would later be taken away from us because of the great mess the ink we made for it created.
And there, dear reader is a bit about my family.
Source
Lane, Margaret. The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne Publishers: London, 1978, Ch. 1, p. 57.
I was born on July 28, 1866 (though in England we would write it as 28 July 1866) at No. 2 Bolton Garden, West Brompton (which would later be destroyed in the German air raids in World War II). There I lived with my parents Rupert and Hellen Potter, and my brother Bertram, who was born five years after me.
My father was a barrister and solicitor (or a "lawyer" to my American friends). But because he came from a wealthy family, and he was wealthy, he does not seem to have ever actually practiced law! Instead, he spent his days at his clubs. One could say that I inherited my great interest in drawing from my father, though he later turned his attention to photography. And, of course, he was quite good at it!
My mother also came from a well-off family. In those days it was not proper for a woman of my mother's social status to work. Therefore my mother spent her days visiting friends and acquaintances, and doing embroidery work. She would also dabble in the art of the paint brush, but generally preferred that of the needle. She also involved herself with charity work by transcribing books into braille for a London Blind Association (people who are unable to see the words in books are able to learn to read braille by feeling the bumps imprinted on paper that stand for letters).
Growing up my brother Bertram spent most of the year away at boarding school. But during the summer he was with us in Scotland or the Lake District. We both shared a strong interest in in nature and enjoyed studying it together. Once we found an old printing press and had great fun in making prints. It would later be taken away from us because of the great mess the ink we made for it created.
And there, dear reader is a bit about my family.
Source
Lane, Margaret. The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne Publishers: London, 1978, Ch. 1, p. 57.
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