Beatrix Potter Characters

The Beatrix Potter soft toys were issued as part of the "Nisbet Childhood Classics" series, and first appeared in the 1977 Silver Jubilee Collectors Reference book. 

Character   Regular (15")   Miniature (8")
Peter Rabbit   5200   5350
Tom Kitten   5204   5351
Jemima Puddleduck   5205   5352
Foxy Gentleman   5206   5353
Lady Mouse   5207   5354
Mrs Tiggywinkle   5208   5355
Benjamin Bunny   5210   5358
Mrs Ribby   5211   5356
Mrs Tittlemouse   5212   5357
 
They were manufactured "Under exclusive Licence © Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd"

Shown below are two of the "Regular" (15 inch) (red background),

and six of the nine "Miniature" (8 inch) (blue background) characters  

.

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix aged 15, with her Springer Spaniel, Spot (Picture from Wikipedia Commons)

Born Helen Beatrix Potter, on 28th July 1866, she became one of our best known and best loved authors of children’s books, most famously, “The Story of Peter Rabbit”

Beatrix was born into a privileged and wealthy household, but was educated by a succession of governesses, and grew up isolated from other children – in fact, although she had a brother, Bertram, he was rarely at home, being educated at Boarding School.

She had numerous pets, and developed a deep love of both flora and fauna.   Family holidays in both the Lake District and Scotland gave her a love of landscape.   (She became particularly fond of the Lake District, and eventually died there).   Her close observations of her many pets and the landscapes she loved led to an interest in painting, at which she excelled.

Despite intellectual development being discouraged by her parents, her study and paintings of fungi led to her gaining wide respect in the field of mycology.   In her thirties, Beatrix published “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”,   and the success of the book led to a career as an author.   The financial independence this gave Beatrix allowed her to break away from her family, and she went to live in her beloved Lake District.   Her wealth allowed her to buy many farms, and to preserve and protect them from developers, (even a problem in those days!).   Her eventual marriage to local solicitor William Heelis is a love story beautifully told in the 2006 film “Miss Potter”, starring Reneé Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, and Lloyd Owen.   Beatrix died on 22nd December 1943, aged 77, near Sawrey, in her beloved Lake District

News

21st September 2023

 

Important Announcement

 

My dear wife, Christine, passed away on the 8th December, 2021, after 8 weeks in hospital. I was by her side, when she slipped away from me peacefully, with no pain or suffering.

 

Chris had been struggling with a slow decline in health, associated with a progressive, untreatable, and ultimately terminal lung disease, and finally succumbed to her old adversary, Pneumonia.

 

We had been friends for 55 years, together as a couple for 50 years, and married just a month short of 48 years, when she died.   

 

This website was Chris's idea, and I did all the technical stuff, to make it work.   After news of Chris's passing reached her close friends in the doll collecting world, I was deeply touched and gratified to hear their tributes to my dear wife, and I must thank them all for their kindness and support.   Ultimately, it was her doll friends that gave me the courage to continue with the website.

 

In the months before her eventual hospitalisation, Chris had outlined a number of additions and changes she wanted to make to the website, and it is my intention to honour those wishes, and to implement the changes we had considered, over the coming weeks and months.

 

I must apologise to all those who have written to us via the website, only to have your emails go unanswered.   Unfortunately, the email system had been hacked aroung the time Chris was going into hospital, and many emails must have been lost, as a result.

 

As you might imagine, I felt completely broken by Chris's loss, and it is only now, almost 22 months after her passing, that I have felt strong enough to even look at the website again.   

 

My aim is to continue with the website, and to implement Chris's aims for her many new ideas as soon as I can.   In the meantime, I have hopefully got the email system sorted out, and I will attempt to answer any enquiries as soon as I can, and to send replies with the same high degree of accuracy that a reply from Chris would have had.

 

From now on, I will be flying solo, whilst my co-pilot and guide will be soaring much higher, (though she is always in my heart, and in my thoughts).

 

My thanks to all our website visitors for your continued support

 

Dave (also known as Arthur), and Chris, (my lost love, Guinevere)

 

Christine Poulten

25th December 1949 - 8th December 2021