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.