 Helen Beatrix Potter was born on July 28 , 1866 in London to barrister Rupert William Potter and his wife Helen ( Leech ) Potter . She was educated by governesses and tutors , and passed a quiet and solitary childhood reading , painting , drawing , tending a nursery menagerie of small animals , and visiting museums and art exhibitions . Her interests in the natural world and country life were nurtured with holiday trips to Scotland , the English Lake District , and Camfield Place , the Hertfordshire home of her paternal grandparents . 
