Book Review: At Home with Beatrix Potter

A couple of months ago, I thought that Beatrix Potter was 'just the creator of Peter Rabbit'. Even if that's 'just' what she was, she'd have brought a lot of happiness and enjoyment into the lives of her readers, of all ages. But I then watched the film Miss Potter and my understanding of the illustrious Mrs. Heelis was brought up to speed as I found out she did so much more.

I felt that Renée Zellweger did a wonderful job in the film, letting us into the extraordinary life of Beatrix, so much so that I wanted to learn more about Beatrix and the wonderful things she did with her life - so I borrowed At Home with Beatrix Potter from the library.


On the face of it you may think that she was just the creator of wonderfully illustrated children's stories, publishing every year from 1902 to 1913 beginning with Peter Rabbit. During these years, she was engaged to be married to Norman Warne, who unfortunately died from a rapid form of virulent leukemia. This led to Miss Potter purchasing Hill Top Farm, near Sawrey in the Lake District.

The Lake District and country life seems to have brought so much inspiration to Beatrix and this can not only be seen in her imaginative tales, but also in her achievements in the worlds of farming and conservation.

With regarding to farming, she was not only an accomplished farmer, but Beatrix was involved with Herdwick sheep which was becoming a rare breed even by the time of Beatrix. Just before her death, Beatrix was elected President of the Herdwick Sheep Breeder's Association, but unfortunately wasn't able to take up the post.

Being a keen conservationalist; Beatrix resented the idea of developers getting their hands on any part of the Lake District and bought up over 4000 acres of land, which included 14 farms and 20 houses! All of which was left either directly to the National Trust, or indirectly through her husband William Heelis. When she couldn't afford to buy the land, Beatrix was an important factor in raising money for the land to be purchased, sometimes by copying drawings from her books and autographing them for supporters of the cause to purchase.

Beatrix was also interested in Mycology and attempted to submit papers on her experiments, but was unable to due to being female. An apology for this was given by the Linean Society in 1997 for the sexist treatment. Her drawings on various fungi are still used today.

Although Beatrix was friends with Hardwicke Rawnsley, a founder member of the National Trust and looked after their estates in the Lake District for quite some time. She didn't always see eye to eye with them, although she always supported them, and saw the Trust as a long term organisation:
"The Trust is a noble thing and humanly speaking immortal. There are some silly mortals connected with it; but they will pass"

Beatrix Potter born on 28 July 1866 died in 22 December 1943 after 77 years of bringing light to the lives of people all over the world. She died at her home, Castle Cottage, of complications from pneumonia and heart disease.

I have found that Beatrix Potter; or Mrs Heelis, farmer, is as immortal as the efforts she supported. I would encourage anyone with an interest in the stories or conservation to read a little bit about the life and achievements of Beatrix Potter. There is so much available online and like her stories, Beatrix Potter herself, won't disappoint.

I really enjoyed reading this book and found that it wasn't just about Beatrix Potter, but included photographs of her, along with her very own words written in letters and diary entries, as well as illustrations that she made. This book is a very good introductory text about Beatrix Potter and brings you in to a world of her own making - a world that pushed boundaries in many ways.