Potter's World

Photograph, Beatrix Potter with Benjamin
Bunny, 1891 Courtesy of Private Collector

Mr and Mrs Potter were overprotective parents and discouraged friendships with other children, but Beatrix and Bertram had each other for company and together they collected a menagerie of pets which they kept in the schoolroom.

At one time, they had a green frog, two lizards, some water newts, a ring-snake, a tortoise and a rabbit, all of which were carefully studied by the children.


Beatrix covered pages with sketches of them and almost all of her famous characters are based on the pets that she used to keep; for example Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny were based on the real pet rabbits Peter Piper and Benjamin Bouncer.