Page "Beatrix Potter" Paragraph 6

Potter ’ s family on both sides was from the Manchester area.

They were English Unitarians, a dissenting Protestant sect who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and were socially and politically discriminated against.

Potter ’ s paternal grandfather, Edmund Potter, from Glossop in Derbyshire, owned the largest calico printing works in England at the time, and later served as a Member of Parliament.

Beatrix ’ s father, Rupert William Potter ( 1832 – 1914 ), was educated in Manchester and trained as a barrister in London.

He married Helen Leech ( 1839 – 1932 ), the daughter of another wealthy cotton merchant and shipbuilder from Stalybridge, at Gee Cross on 8 August 1863.

Rupert practiced law, specialising in equity law and conveyancing.

They lived comfortably at 2 Bolton Gardens, South Kensington, where Helen Beatrix was born on 28 July 1866 and her brother Walter Bertram on 14 March 1872.

Both parents were artistically talented, and Rupert was an adept amateur photographer.

Rupert had invested in the stock market and by the early 1890s was extremely wealthy.