June 30, 2023 – Windermere, UK
“You may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s Garden. Your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.”
The Wells Family lived within walking distance of the very famous author, Beatrix Potter.
Born in 1866, Potter would have been a contemporary of John and Agnes Wells. Their son, our Grandpa Bob, might have been too old for “Rabbit” stories when Potter published her famous book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, in 1902, but his little sister Ena was the perfect age for illustrated children’s fiction.
I am one hundred percent certain that Great Grandma Agnes and Great Grandpa John Wells read The Tale of Peter Rabbit to Aunt Ena.
In fact, if you examine these images closely, you might notice that Aunt Ena bears a passing resemblance to …
… Mopsy
Aunt Ena might not have known that her neighbour was such a remarkable woman. In addition to being a famous author and illustrator (250 million copies, in 36 languages), Beatrix Potter was also a natural scientist, conservationist, farmer, prize-winning sheep breeder, entrepreneur, and merchandising pioneer.
Our ancestral neighbour sold 250 million books, about a mischievous, disobedient rabbit!
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