© neftali / Shutterstock.com

Famous for inventing the character Peter Rabbit, legendary English author Beatrix Potter is also credited with conserving much of the land that makes up the Lake District National Park. An accomplished author, she was also a natural scientist and conservationist, using her earnings from the sale of her children's books to buy properties and land in the Lake District, later bequeathing them all to the National Trust in her will. Her former home, Hill Top, in the village of Near Sawrey in Cumbria, has become a National Trust museum. Childhood Born in July 1866, in Kensington, London, Potter lived in an era when opportunities for women in higher education were limited. She came from a wealthy upper-class family and was educated privately by a series of governesses. Both her parents enjoyed spending time in the countryside. Their love of nature and animals was passed on to Beatrix and her younger brother, Walter, who was born in 1872. The children kept many small animals as pets, looking after them very well and drawing them continually. These included a Springer Spaniel called Spot, rabbits, mice, a hedgehog, bats, butterflies and other insects, which they studied. Beatrix was so devoted to her collection of animals that she would often take them on holiday with her. Particular favourites were her rabbits; Benjamin Bouncer feasted on toast and would walk on a lead like a dog, while Peter Piper learned how to perform tricks. Rural holidays The Potters spent summer holidays in both Scotland and the Lake District. Up to the age of 15, Beatrix and her family were frequent visitors to the Scottish estate of Dalguise, on the River Tay in Perthshire. The region inspired her imagination, as she and Walter were allowed the freedom to explore the countryside. In 1887, when Beatrix was 21, the Potter family stayed at Wray Castle near Lake Windermere for a holiday. Beatrix met the local vicar, Hardwicke Rawnsley, who was to become the founding secretary of the National Trust. His interest in the countryside further inspired her love of nature, having a major impact on her life. Beatrix had been keeping a diary since her early teens. It wasn't a description of her day-to-day life, but rather reflected her thoughts on society, art and artists, interesting stories she had heard and observations of life around her. She wrote her reports in small, neat handwriting, complete with illustrations. It was an important tool; developing her creative skills, as it served as a sketchbook too. Natural science As she matured, Beatrix became interested in every branch of natural science. She collected fossils, studied archaeological artefacts from excavations and was interested in entomology - the scientific study of insects. Going on to study fungi at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, she produced hundreds of detailed botanical drawings. The respected Scottish naturalist, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, admired her work and taught her how to make her fungi drawings more technically accurate. She became a skilled scientific illustrator and also produced beautiful watercolours. In 1896, at the age of 30, Beatrix wrote a scientific paper, "On the Germination of the Spores of Agaricineae". It was never published, but today's scientists recognise her important contribution to fungi research. Author Before she became a published author, Beatrix drew illustrations for her favourite childhood stories, including Cinderella and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in addition to sketches from nature. Her earliest works were published as greeting-card designs and illustrations for Hildesheimer and Faulkner publishers. She also provided frog illustrations for an annual called Changing Pictures, published by Ernest Nister. This spurred Beatrix’s ambitions to publish her own illustrated stories. One of her earliest stories was The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which told the simple tale of a mischievous young Peter and his siblings Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. The story was rejected by several publishers. Frustrated by the rejection, Beatrix decided to publish the book herself; in December 1901, she printed an initial run of 250 copies, mainly for friends and family. Based on the author's childhood pet rabbit, Peter Piper; Peter Rabbit is naughty and sneaks into Mr McGregor's vegetable garden to eat the crops, but he eats too many and gets tummy ache. Mr McGregor spots him and chases him around the garden, but Peter manages to escape home to his mother. She gives him camomile tea to settle his tummy and puts him to bed. The success of the book was noted by the publisher Frederick Warne & Co, who had earlier turned it down. Reversing their decision, they offered to publish it if Beatrix would provide more illustrations in colour. Published in October 1902, it became a best seller. More books followed, including The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin in 1903. She began writing two or three books a year and in total had 23 published. Her books were massively successful, thanks to the simple nature of her stories, the lively quality of her illustrations, her vivid descriptions of the countryside and the imaginative personalities of her animal characters. Personal life Beatrix was engaged briefly to her editor at the publishing house, Norman Warne. Their relationship blossomed, although it was said her parents objected to the match, as he was a tradesman. Undeterred, the couple became engaged in 1905. Sadly, they never married, as he died of leukaemia later that year, at the age of 37. Beatrix became a canny businesswoman and amassed a great deal of money through her books, even creating spin-off merchandise such as a Peter Rabbit doll, painting books, china tea-sets, babies' blankets, figurines, wallpaper and board games - all produced by Frederick Warne & Co. She used her money to buy property and land in the Lake District, investing in farmland - including Hill Top Farm, which later featured in her books. Local solicitor William Heelis dealt with her property purchases. He proposed to her in 1912 and they wed in London in 1913. They lived in the Lake District until the author's death in 1943. Beatrix supported the National Trust and followed its principles in preserving the farms and buildings - a belief she had held since meeting its founder, Rawnsley, in her youth. She saved many farms from being sold to developers, buying 15 in total. Dressed in traditional rural garb such as an old tweed skirt, clogs and a shawl, Beatrix was very hands-on, helping with hay-making and wading through mud to rescue lost sheep and unblock drains. She bred prize-winning Herdwick sheep and felt at her happiest when with her animals. She also became the first female president of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders’ Association. When Beatrix died in 1943, she left her 15 farms and more than 4,000 acres of land to the National Trust. Hill Top Farm was kept exactly as it had been when she was alive and today receives thousands of visitors each year. More than two million Beatrix Potter books are sold each year, all over the world. The stories are timeless and continue to attract generations of new young readers. Still a firm favourite today; the Beatrix Potter books engage children of all ages, capturing their imagination, while helping to develop their love and understanding of our great countryside in all its glory – and what better way to get out and explore, than in a pair of children’s’ Hunter Wellingtons?