Beatrix Potter 1866 – 1943

Beatrix Potter with Peter Rabbit

 Helen Beatrix Potter (better known as Beatrix Potter) was an English author, illustrator and conservationist.  She is probably best known for the Peter Rabbit series of books.

            Beatrix potter was born in London in 1866 to a wealthy family, with artistic parents who had a vast interest in nature and the countryside.  She had a younger brother, Bertram, and between them they had a number of pets they observed and drew constantly.  Their summers were spent in either Scotland or the Lake District, where Beatrix discovered her love of nature and began painting it from an early age.  She began art lessons in 1878 and was awarded an art student’s certificate for model and freehand drawing in 1880.

            In 1890, Beatrix bought her first rabbit, Benjamin Bouncer, later followed by another rabbit in 1893 whom she named Peter.  They would later become the inspiration behind her most beloved books.  The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first sent as a picture letter in 1893.  It was then published as a privately published edition, in black and white with illustrations in 1901, before being published commercially by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1902.  The first Peter Rabbit doll, made by Beatrix herself, followed in 1903.  She was briefly engaged to her editor Norman Warne in 1905 until his sudden death from leukemia.  Grief stricken she fled to a life of solitary at a farm called Hill Top in the Lake District.  In 1909, she also brought the farm across the road, Castle Farm, soon becoming quite a prosperous farmer of the time.  

            Between 1902 and 1922, Beatrix wrote and illustrated many books featuring the animals she encountered in the countryside, with over 23 of them achieving publication.  She was also very active in conservation, and is credited with preserving the land which is now known as the Lake District National Park.

            In 1913, she married William Heelis, a country solicitor, much to the dismay of her parents who disapproved of the match.  They were happily married for thirty years but remained childless, devoting their time instead to farming and preservation.

            Beatrix Potter died in 1943 from complications due to pneumonia and heart disease.  She left nearly all of her property to the National Trust, who used her gift to preserve the lands now included in the Lake District National Park.  She also left the National Trust the original copies of many of her illustrations.

            In 1946, the Trust opened up Hill Top to the public and it has been popular with visitors from all over the world.  Not surprising when you think that this was the place where she drew inspiration for many of her beloved books.  The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, also in the Lake Distract, is another popular destination for fans of Peter Rabbit and his friends.

Margaret Murray 1863 – 1963

Margaret Murray

’I have been an archaeologist most of my life and now I’m a piece of archaeology myself.’

Margaret Alice Murray was an English Archaeologist and Folklorist.  She was the first female lecturer of archaeology in the United Kingdom, when she worked at University College London (UCL) from 1898 to 1935.  She was also widely published over the course of her career and was president of the Folklore Society from 1953 to 1955.

            Born in Calcutta, Margaret divided her younger years between Britain and India and originally trained as a nurse and social worker.  She began studying Egyptology at UCL in 1894 and was appointed as Junior Professor in 1898.  She established her reputation in Egyptology in 1902-03, when she was part of an excavation expedition in Abydos, Egypt, where they discovered the Osireion Tempe and Saqqara Cemetery. 

            In 1908, she became the first woman to publicly unwrap a mummy during a lecture at Manchester Museum.  She also began to write books about Egyptology for a more public audience.  When the First World War stopped her from returning to Egypt, Margaret Murray changed the focus of her research to the Witch-Cult Hypothesis.  Her theory that the early witch-trials of modern Christianity were trying to extinguish the pagan religion were academically discredited, although they did have a big impact on the Wicca Religion. 

            Murray’s first book about witchcraft: The Witch Cult in Western Europe, was published in 1921, after she had conducted numerous field studies throughout Europe, with theories of how witchcraft and Pagan fertility cults extended back to the Palaeolithic era.  She managed to cause a lot of controversy amongst her peers who ridiculed her opinions.  This did not however deter her from continuing to study witchcraft as a sideline to her main career.

            Margaret Murray developed an interest in folkloristics when she undertook excavations of prehistoric sites on Malta and Minorca between 1921 - 1931.  She was appointed assistant professor in 1928 and awarded an honourary doctorate in 1927, before retiring in 1935.

            Although she has been widely acclaimed for her work in Egyptology, Margaret Murray’s work in folkloristics and the history of witchcraft has been largely discredited, leaving her with a tarnished reputation.  Her books on witchcraft are often still ridiculed today as having very little historic importance. 

            Margaret Murray died in 1963 at the age of one-hundred.  She will mostly be remembered for her academic contributions to the science of Archaeology and Egyptology, but it would be difficult to ignore the contributions she made to the early development of contemporary witchcraft.  She will no doubt be remembered as one of the most remarkable women of her generation.

Isabella Beeton 1836 – 1865

Isabella Beeton

Mrs Beeton has never really been allowed to die.  Instead she has entered the British consciousness as a standard of culinary – and moral – efficiency.

Isabella Mary Beeton (née Mayson) was one of the first and best cookery writers.

            She was born in London in 1836 and educated in Germany.  In 1856 she married a wealthy publisher, Samuel Beeton, and began to write articles on cookery and household management for his publication.  Including her half-sisters, Isabella had twenty-one siblings and as the eldest, she soon acquired a knack for household management, which she would later incorporate into her famous book.

            ‘Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management’ was first published in 1861.  The original book was a guide to managing a Victorian household.  It gave advice on child care, animal husbandry and the proper use of poisons (not for murder).  Mrs Beeton was also the first to highlight the use of seasonal and local produce, long before it became mainstream.  It also contained over 900 recipes, which is why it is also known as Mrs Beeton’s Cookbook.  The book was also the first to contain colour illustrations for recipes.

            Although she takes the majority of the credit for the book, Mrs Beeton was in fact the compiler and editor, many of the featured recipes belonging to other writers.  It was put together by Isabella as a source of information for inspiring middle-class homemakers. There was also advice on things like etiquette, entertaining and the employment of servants. The book was a huge success, selling over 60,000 copies in its first year and nearly 2 million by 1868.

            Isabella Beeton died of an infection in 1865, just a few days after the birth of her fourth child.  She was just twenty-eight years old.  

Margot Turner 1910 – 1993

Margot Turner

Dame Evelyn Marguerite (Margot) Turner, was a British Military Nurse and a Prisoner of War (POW) during World War II.

            Margot Turner became a military nurse during the 1930’s and her first overseas posting was over in the Far East.  In 1941 she was serving in a hospital in Malay, when the Japanese invaded she was evacuated with many of the other hospital staff to Singapore, until that was also raided in 1942.

            In February 1942, Margot was among many refugees from Singapore who sailed upon the small cargo boat, the Tanjong Penang, on route to Java.  The ship was sunk by the Japanese and Margot, who had been up on deck at the time managed to survive.  She made it to a raft, on which she managed to rescue sixteen people including six children.  Without food or water they soon died, or fell off the raft through exhaustion, leaving Margot as the sole survivor of her ship.  She was later picked up by a Japanese vessel and made a Prisoner of War.

            She was initially nursed back to health by some nuns and helped out in the operating theatre, until she was unexpectedly arrested by the Kempeitai (Japanese Secret Police).  This was followed by six months in a filthy cell, with the daily fear of joining those that were being tortured and executed, until she was finally returned to a prison camp.

            The next three and a half years were spent under the most appalling conditions.  With her medical training, Margot was able to tend to the sick and injured in the camp, although this was no easy task, seeing as they had no medical supplies or medicines.  The women were subjected to long hours standing in the hot sun during roll-calls (tenko’s), and the meagre rations of food they were given were extremely lacking in nutrition.  Many of the prisoners succumbed to diseases such as dysentery and malaria and were buried in shallow graves within the camp, by the women themselves.

            Despite the many hardships that they faced, morale within the camp was surprisingly high.  The women managed to brave their circumstances and refused to be defeated by their captors.  One of the more uplifting stories from camp life is that of ‘The Captive’s Hymn’, which the women used to sing to keep their spirits up.  The hymn would later be sung by Margot Turner and some of her fellow internees when they were re-united for an episode of the television series ‘This is Your Life’, when Margot appeared on it to celebrate her life’s achievements.

The Captive’s Hymn.

Father in captivity

We would lift our prayers to Thee,

Keep us ever in thy love.

Grant that daily we may prove

Those who place their trust in Thee

More than conquerors may be

Give us patience to endure

Keep our hearts serene and pure,

Grant us courage, charity,

Greater faith, humility,

Readiness to own Thy will,

Be we free or captive still

For our country we would pray

In this hour be Thou her stay.

Pride and selfishness forgive,

Teach her, by Thy laws, to live,

By Thy Grace may all men see,

That true greatness comes from Thee.

For our loved ones we would pray

Be their guardians, night and day,

From all dangers, keep them free,

Banish all anxiety.

Grant that nations loving Thee

O’er the world may brothers be,

Cleansed by suffering, know rebirth,

See Thy Kingdom come on earth.

After the war ended, Margot Turner continued with her work in the Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps and rose to the rank of Colonel Commander, before her retirement in 1974.  She was awarded an MBE in 1946 and later a DBE in 1965.  She died in East Sussex, England in 1993.

Mary Rand – 1940 –

Mary Rand

‘Just an ordinary working mum who took part in the games as a hobby.’

Mary Rand, (née Bignal) MBE, was the first Female British Athlete to win an Olympic Gold Medal.

            Whilst still at school, the young Mary excelled at sports but was especially outstanding at High Jump, Long Jump and Hurdles.  In 1956, she was a guest of the Olympic squad at a training camp in Brighton, later setting a national British record of points in a pentathlon at the age of just 17.

            Mary’s first Olympic outing was Rome 1960, where she finished 4^th in the 80m hurdles.  She also finished 9^th in the Long Jump, despite setting a British record in the qualifying round.

            Then came the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, where Mary Rand set an Olympic record in the Long Jump, (which would be broken exactly four years later) earning her a Gold Medal, the first ever won by a female British athlete.  She also took home a silver for the pentathlon, as well as a bronze as part of the 4x100 metres relay.  This also made her the only British female athlete to win three medals at one Olympic Games.

            Mary Rand also trained as an athlete during the sixties, when there was none of the big sponsorship deals that are given to athletes now.  As well as training to become the best in her field, she also had to hold down a job in a Guinness factory, in-between raising her family.  She usually worked an eight-hour shift before completing a two-hour round trip to her training ground. The fact that she did all of that, and still managed to win medals and break records, should be an inspiration to all hopeful athletes of the future.

            In 1964, Mary Rand was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.  Then in 1965, she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year’s Honours List.  She was finally inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. 

Frances Hoggan MD 1843 – 1927

Frances Hoggan

Frances Elizabeth Hoggan (née Morgan) was the first British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine.  She was also one of the speakers at the first Universal Race Congress in London in 1911.

            Frances Hoggan was born in Brecon, Wales and studied in Paris and Dusseldorf before receiving her medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1870, after completing a six year course in just three.  In mid-victorian Britain, women were not permitted to become university trained doctors, but an undeterred Frances passed the entrance exam to Zurich, which was the only university in Europe at the time to accept female medical students.  This led to her becoming not just the first Welsh woman, but also the first British woman to become a fully qualified doctor.

            Frances returned to London, where she specialised in women’s and children’s diseases.  Later she set up a general medical practice with her husband, Dr George Hoggan, whom she married in 1874.  Theirs was the first husband-wife medical practice in the UK.

            An active campaigner and social reformer, Frances also toured the United States giving lectures on racial issues, as well as campaigning against the lynching of Negroes in the south of the United States.  During this time, she also wrote several articles about the situations faced by the Afro-American people.  The most significant article she wrote was entitled, ‘American Negro women during the first fifty years of freedom.’  When the first Universal Race Congress was held in London, 1911, Frances Hoggan was one of the key speakers.

            Frances Hoggan was a determined woman who went after what she wanted, despite the odds being stacked against her, and was not afraid to speak out for the rights of others.  She died in 1927 and her cremated remains are buried in Woking besides those of her husband.

Elsie Widdowson 1906 – 2000

Elsie Widdowson

‘If your results don’t make physiological sense, think and think again!  You may have made a mistake (in which case own up to it) or you may have made a discovery.  Above all, treasure your exceptions.  You will learn more from them than all the rest of your data.’

Elsie Widdowson was a pioneer of the scientific study of nutrition.  She was also part responsible to the addition of vitamins to food, as well as over-seeing the rationing of food in Britain during World War II.

            In 1928, she became one of the first women graduates of Imperial College, London, achieving a BSc in Chemistry.  She achieved her PhD in Chemistry in 1931 after writing her thesis on the carbohydrate content of apples.  Widdowson also obtained a doctorate from the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry at Middlesex Hospital, where she did further research into the metabolism of the kidneys.

            In 1933, she met Robert McCance in the kitchen of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where she was studying industrial cooking techniques as part of her diploma on dietetics.  They both realised that there were significant errors in the standard nutritional tables.  It was the start of a professional relationship that was to last sixty years.

            During the early 1940’s, their work on improving the nutritional value of our food began with the introduction of calcium into bread.  They would later introduce the addition of vitamins and minerals.  Widdowson and McCance would also be made responsible for the rationing of food during World War II, formulating it so that people received the best nutritional diet as was possible during the food shortages.

            Elsie Widdowson was also well known for testing out her nutritional experiments on herself, which were not always safe.  Elsie and Robert once injected themselves with Strontium Lactate (similar to calcium), to see how much of it would end up being excreted.  They both became ill with pains, fever and headaches due to the sample being contaminated with bacteria.

            Widdowson and McCance spent most of the working life in Cambridge, after being employed by the Medical Research Council in 1946.  That same year they visited Holland, Germany and Denmark to study the impact of the poor diet suffered by those in the Nazi-occupied territories.  Their consultation was also sought in the rehabilitation of the victims of the Nazi Concentration Camps, who were suffering from severe starvation.  Widdowson would later follow up this work in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, by studying malnourishment in Africa.  Her research showed a link between infant malnourishment and lifelong effects on growth and health.

            It was Widdowsons’ studies into the nutritional value and content of the infant diet, that led to the standards of breast milk substitutes in the UK being revised during the 1980’s, after her studies in the difference between natural and artificial human milk in terms of trace vitamins and minerals.

            Elsie Widdowson became the head of the Infant Nutrition Research Division at the Dunn Research Laboratory, Cambridge, in 1966.  Although she formally retired in 1972, she continued her research at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.  Widdowson was also president of several societies and foundations between 1977 and 1996.  She was also awarded a CBE for her work in 1979.

            Although she spent her life studying nutrition, she herself only ate a simple diet which consisted of butter and eggs.  Her long-life she attributed to her good genes, her mother lived to be 107.  Elsie Widdowson herself died in Addenbrooke’s Hospital following a stroke at the age of 94.