Editing Beatrix Potter (section)

===Early life ===
[[File:Potter about 1874.JPG|thumb|upright=0.7|Potter aged eight, {{Circa|1874}}]]

Potter's family on both sides were from the [[Manchester]] area.<ref>Lear 2007, p. 10</ref> They were English [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]],<ref>Lear 2007, p. 9</ref> associated with dissenting [[Protestantism|Protestant]] congregations, influential in 19th-century Britain, that affirmed the oneness of God and that rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. Potter's paternal grandfather, [[Edmund Potter]], from [[Glossop]] in [[Derbyshire]], owned what was then the largest [[calico]] printing works in England, and later served as a Member of Parliament.<ref>Lear 2007, pp. 10–14</ref>

Potter's father, Rupert William Potter (1832–1914), was educated at [[Harris Manchester College, Oxford|Manchester College]] by the [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] philosopher [[James Martineau]].<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Tim|title=Mandrake-The Duchess of Cambridge is related to Potter, who once gave the Middleton family her own original hand-painted illustrations|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/10980599/Kate-Middleton-is-related-to-Beatrix-Potter.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|page=8|date=22 July 2014|access-date=16 August 2014|archive-date=16 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616211600/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/10980599/Kate-Middleton-is-related-to-Beatrix-Potter.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Taylor|first=Judy|title=Beatrix Potter – Artist, Storyteller|url=http://www.e-reading.co.uk/bookreader.php/1007152/Taylor_-_Beatrix_Potter_Artist,_Storyteller_and_Countrywoman.html|publisher=Frederick Warne|year=1996|access-date=15 January 2014|archive-date=16 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116190017/http://www.e-reading.co.uk/bookreader.php/1007152/Taylor_-_Beatrix_Potter_Artist,_Storyteller_and_Countrywoman.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He then trained as a [[barrister]] in London. Rupert practiced law, specialising in [[equity (legal concept)|equity]] law and [[conveyancing]]. He married Helen Leech (1839–1932) on 8 August 1863 at Hyde Unitarian Chapel, [[Gee Cross]]. Helen was the daughter of Jane Ashton (1806–1884) and John Leech, a wealthy cotton merchant and shipbuilder from [[Stalybridge]]. Helen's first cousins were siblings [[Lupton family|Harriet Lupton]] (''née'' Ashton) and  [[Thomas Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde]]. It was reported in July 2014 that Potter had personally given a number of her own original hand-painted illustrations to the two daughters of Arthur and Harriet Lupton, who were cousins to both Beatrix Potter and [[Catherine, Princess of Wales]].<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Evening Mail |first1=NW |title=Cumbria author Beatrix Potter link to Prince George revealed |url=http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/cumbria-author-beatrix-potter-link-to-prince-george-revealed-1.1149744 |date=21 July 2014 |newspaper=North-West Evening Mail |access-date=16 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728105712/https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/cumbria-author-beatrix-potter-link-to-prince-george-revealed-1.1149744 |archive-date=28 July 2014 }}</ref>

[[File:Young Beatrix.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Potter aged fifteen with her [[English Springer Spaniel|springer spaniel]], Spot]]
Potter's parents lived comfortably at 2 Bolton Gardens, [[West Brompton]], London, where Helen Beatrix was born on 28 July 1866 and her brother Walter Bertram on 14 March 1872.<ref>Lear 2007, pp. 13–24</ref> The house was destroyed in [[the Blitz]]. Bousfield Primary School now stands where the house once was. A blue plaque on the school building testifies to the former site of the Potter home.<ref>{{cite web|title=Beatrix Potter's London|url=https://londonist.com/2016/01/beatrix-potter-s-london|website=Londonist.com|date=26 January 2016|access-date=19 September 2017|archive-date=31 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031134324/https://londonist.com/2016/01/beatrix-potter-s-london|url-status=live}}</ref> Both parents were artistically talented,<ref>Lear 2007, p. 21</ref> and Rupert was an adept amateur photographer.<ref>Lear 2007, pp. 35–36</ref><ref>Rupert Potter was a member of the Photographic Society, later [[Royal Photographic Society]] from 1869 until 1912. Information from Michael Pritchard, Director-General / [http://www.rps.org www.rps.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402035959/http://www.rps.org/ |date=2 April 2014 }}, 13 May 2014.</ref> Rupert had invested in the stock market, and by the early 1890s, he was extremely wealthy.<ref>Lear 2007, p. 19. Rupert came into his father's estate over the course of several years, 1884, 1891 and 1905. The Potters were comfortable but they did not live exclusively on inherited wealth; Lane, (1946) ''The Tale of Beatrix Potter'' 1946, p. 1</ref>

Beatrix Potter was educated by three governesses, the last of whom was Annie Moore (''née'' Carter), just three years older than Potter, who tutored Potter in German as well as acting as [[lady's companion]].<ref>Lear 2007, p. 55</ref> She and Potter remained friends throughout their lives, and Annie's eight children were the recipients of many of Potter's picture letters. It was Annie who later suggested that these letters might make good children's books.<ref>Lear 2007, p. 142; Lane, 1978, ''The Magic Years of Potter Potter''. Lane depicts Potter's childhood as much more restricted than either or Potter's two later biographers. Taylor, ''Beatrix Potter: Artist Story Teller'', Ch 1.; Lear, 2007, pp. 25–48;  Beatrix Potter, ''The Journal of Beatrix Potter: From 1881–1897''.</ref>

[[File:Wray Castle, Windermere.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|In 1882, Potter's stay at [[Wray Castle]] on the banks of [[Windermere|Lake Windermere]] during a family holiday began her long association with the English [[Lake District]].]]
She and her younger brother Walter Bertram (1872–1918) grew up with few friends outside their large extended family. Her parents were artistic, interested in nature, and enjoyed the countryside. As children, Potter and Bertram had numerous small animals as pets which they observed closely and drew endlessly. In their schoolroom, Potter and Bertram kept a variety of small pets—mice, rabbits, a hedgehog and some bats, along with collections of butterflies and other insects—which they drew and studied.<ref>Lear 2007, p. 31, pp. 37–44, p. 458nn15</ref> Potter was devoted to the care of her small animals, often taking them with her on long holidays.<ref>Judy Taylor, Joyce Irene Whalley, Anne Stevenson Hobbs and Elizabeth Battrick, (1987) ''Beatrix Potter, 1866–1943: The Artist and Her World'', pp.9–17, 35–48; Lear, pp. 25–48.</ref> In most of the first fifteen years of her life, Potter spent summer holidays at [[Dalguise]], an estate on the [[River Tay]] in [[Perthshire|Perthshire, Scotland]]. There she sketched and explored an area that nourished her imagination and her observation.<ref>Lear 2007, pp. 26–8, 51</ref> Her first sketchbook from those holidays, kept at age 8 and dated 1875, is held at and has been digitised by the [[Victoria and Albert Museum|Victoria & Albert Museum, London]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=V&A · Beatrix Potter's first sketchbook, aged 8 |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/beatrix-potters-first-sketchbook-aged-8 |access-date=11 May 2022 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}</ref> Potter and her brother were allowed great freedom in the country, and both children became adept students of [[natural history]]. In 1882, when Dalguise was no longer available, the Potters took their first summer holiday in the [[Lake District]], at [[Wray Castle]] near [[Windermere|Lake Windermere]].<ref>Lear 2007, pp. 51–2</ref> Here Potter met [[Hardwicke Rawnsley]], vicar of Wray and later the founding secretary of the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]], whose interest in the countryside and country life inspired the same in Potter and who was to have a lasting impact on her life.<ref>Potter, ''The Journal, 1885–1897''</ref><ref>Lear 2007, pp. 52–3</ref>

{{multiple image|align=left
 | footer    = [[Lingholm]] country house (where Potter spent her summer holidays from 1885 to 1907) and a statue of [[Peter Rabbit]] on the house grounds. Lingholm kitchen garden inspired Mr. McGregor's garden in the Peter Rabbit stories. With its connection to Potter, Lingholm was [[Listed building#England and Wales|listed Grade II]] on the [[National Heritage List for England]] in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lingholm given grade II historic listing by English Heritage |url=https://thelingholmestate.co.uk/house |publisher=The Lingholm Estate |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105183220/https://thelingholmestate.co.uk/house |archivedate=5 November 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1413920|desc=Lingholm|access-date=10 May 2023|mode=cs2}}</ref>
 | width     =
 | image1    = Lingholm - geograph.org.uk - 349521.jpg
 | width1    = 220
 | image2    = Peter Rabbit Statue at Lingholm (geograph 5930258).jpg
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At about the age of 14, Potter began to keep a diary, written in a simple [[substitution cipher]] of her own devising. Her ''Journal'' was important to the development of her creativity, serving as both sketchbook and literary experiment. In tiny handwriting, she reported on society, recorded her impressions of art and artists, recounted stories and observed life around her.<ref>Lear 2007, pp.49–51 ''cf.'' also p. 463nn1</ref> The ''Journal'', deciphered and transcribed by Leslie Linder in 1958, does not provide an intimate record of her personal life, but it is an invaluable source for understanding a vibrant part of British society in the late 19th century. It describes Potter's maturing artistic and intellectual interests, her often amusing insights into the places she visited, and her unusual ability to observe nature and to describe it. Started in 1881, her journal ends in 1897 when her artistic and intellectual energies were absorbed in scientific study and in efforts to publish her drawings.<ref>Potter, "The Journal, 1885–1897"</ref> Precocious but reserved and often bored, she was searching for more independent activities and wished to earn some money of her own while dutifully taking care of her parents, dealing with her especially demanding mother,<ref>Lear 2007, p. 94 also ''cf.'' p. 474nn55</ref> and managing their various households.