1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,639 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that uncovers a little bit 4 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: more about history. Every day. Today is July. The day 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: was July eighteen sixty six. Helen Beatrix Potter was born 6 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,959 Speaker 1: in South Kensington, London. Potter would become renowned for her 7 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: best selling children's books. Beatrix was born into a wealthy family, 8 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: one that made is money off of cotton, a trade 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: that was firmly rooted in the system of slavery. She 10 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: was the first child of Rupert and Helen Potter, who 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: had a passion for the arts and hung around a 12 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: lot of artists, writers and politicians. Beatrix had a younger brother, 13 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: Walter Bertram, and as was typical for pete of her class, 14 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,759 Speaker 1: Beatrix was educated at home by governesses and her care 15 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,479 Speaker 1: was left to nurses. She was isolated and her childhood 16 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: was pretty lonely, though she was allowed to keep small 17 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: pets like rabbits, mice and snails. When Beatrix and her 18 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: brother spent time in the Scottish Highlands and the Lake 19 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: District of northern England, they would wander around the countryside 20 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: which stimulated Beatrix's interest in animals and nature, but Bertram 21 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: was sent away to boarding school and Beatrix remained on 22 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: her own throughout her adolescence. Her father also took her 23 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: to museums and to visit their friends, and at a 24 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: young age she was drawing, painting, and writing about her pets. 25 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: Her parents even sent her to the National Art Training 26 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: School for formal art instruction. From eighty one to eighteen 27 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: ninety seven, she kept a journal that was written in 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: a secret code that she made up. In this journal, 29 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: she recorded her thoughts about politics, society, and art. Her 30 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: journal code wasn't cracked and deciphered until after her death, 31 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: and she filled sketch books with drawings of plants and animals. 32 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: In the early eighteen nineties, Beatrix sold some of her 33 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: art for greeting cards and illustrations, but in her twenties 34 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: she put a lot of time into studying natural history. 35 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: She was especially intrigued by fun Guy. She drew hundreds 36 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: of detailed pictures of fun Guy and was encouraged to 37 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: make her drawings more scientifically accurate. In seven, with the 38 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: help of her chemist uncle, her paper on the germination 39 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: of the spores of Agaricina was presented to a meeting 40 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:44,239 Speaker 1: of the Linnaean Society. She herself could not present the 41 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: paper because she was a woman, and her theories and 42 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: drawings were rejected for that same reason and because she 43 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: was not a trained scientist. But the inspiration for her 44 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: famous book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit came when she 45 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: was writing illustrated letters to the children of her former 46 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: governesses in She wrote one such letter to Noel More. 47 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: Seven years later, she submitted the story to several local publishers. 48 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: They turned it down, so she had it printed herself. 49 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: After seeing the book, publisher Frederick Warren decided to publish 50 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: it with additional colored illustrations from Potter. The book was successful, 51 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: and Beatrix went on to form a lifelong relationship with 52 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: Frederick and a romantic one with her editor, Norman Warren. 53 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: She and Norman married, though her parents were not approving 54 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: of the pairing. He died less than a month after 55 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: they married. Potter went on to produce twenty two more 56 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: books over the next twenty years, including The Tailor of Gloucester, 57 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, and Apply Dapple's Nursery Rhymes. 58 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: Her books were small, so children could hold them, and 59 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: they paired simple prose with watercolor illustrations. Using the money 60 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: she made from her books, she bought Hilltop Farm and 61 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: Castle Farm and Salary, England, and thousands of acres of 62 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: surrounding farmland. She rented out her property and remained living 63 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: with her parents until she was forty seven years old, 64 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: when she married a solicitor named William Heillis. The last 65 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: book she wrote and illustrated, The Tale of Little Pig Robinson, 66 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: was published in nineteen thirty, though an earlier book she 67 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: had written was published later. In her later years, she 68 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: settled into marriage and turned her attentions from writing to farming, 69 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: and she was dedicated to breeding her wig sheep. She 70 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: was also passionate about conservation. In nineteen forty three, at 71 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:47,600 Speaker 1: age seventy seven, Beatrix died in her home. She left 72 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: thousands of acres of land to the National Trust. The 73 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 1: Journal of Beatrix Potter was published in nineteen sixty six. 74 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more 75 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: about history today. Thank you did yesterday. Keep up with 76 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at t d I 77 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: h C Podcast. Thanks for joining me on this trip 78 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: through history. See you here, same place tomorrow. For more 79 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 80 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.