Author Description

Beatrix Potter's grandfather, Edmund Potter, built the world's largest calico printing company in Manchester, after losing another company in bankruptcy. His company was known for its benevolence to employees, providing them with inexpensive food, a reading room and library, and a day school for dependent children. Her maternal grandfather, John Leech, was a cotton merchant from Dukinfield who served on the Manchester Royal Exchange. A close family friend, William Gaskell, was a pillar of Manchester cultural life. Another family friend, Hardwicke Rawnsley, later a co-founder of the National Trust, was a neighbor at Wray Castle and the incumbent of St. Margaret's Church. It was through Rawnsley that Beatrix met the three Armitt sisters, whose bequests became the foundation of the Armitt Library and Museum.