Beatrix Potter* is best known for her children’s books, beginning with The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901). Miss Potter lives with her parents, Helen and Rupert Potter, at Number Two Bolton Gardens, in South Kensington, London. She spends as much time as possible at Hill Top Farm, in the Lake District village of Near Sawrey. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings and their children live in the Hill Top farmhouse and manage the farm while Miss Potter is in London.

Will Heelis,* a solicitor, lives in the nearby market town of Hawkshead and is a frequent visitor to Near Sawrey. He and Miss Potter became secretly engaged in The Tale of Applebeck Orchard.

Winston Churchill,* First Lord of the Admiralty, is an ardent supporter of aeroplane development and a visitor to the aeroplane factory.

Mr. Fred L. Baum, landowner and aeroplane developer, lives at Lakeshore Manor. His partner and pilot, Oscar Wyatt, also built the aeroplane. Paddy Pratt is a former odd-jobs man at the manor, recently discharged by Mr. Baum.

Captain Miles Woodcock and his new wife, Margaret Nash Woodcock , live in Tower Bank House. Mrs. Woodcock is the former headmistress of Sawrey School. Captain Woodcock is the justice of the peace for Sawrey District.

Dimity Woodcock Kittredge, Captain Woodcock’s sister, is married to Major Christopher Kittredge, the master of Raven Hall. The Kittredges have two small children, Flora and Baby Christopher.

Vicar Samuel Sackett is the vicar of St. Peter’s Church in Far Sawrey. Mrs. Hazel Thompson (a cousin of Agnes Llewellyn) keeps house for him.

Mrs. Grace Lythecoe, a widow who lives in Rose Cottage, is the object of Vicar Sackett’s affection.

Sarah Barwick operates the Anvil Cottage Bakery in Near Sawrey. She is a Modern Woman who wears trousers and rides a bicycle to deliver her baked goods.

Jeremy Crosfield, eighteen, has finished his studies at Kelsick and is currently teaching at Sawrey School. He is an artist and amateur botanist.

Deirdre Malone, seventeen, keeps the accounts for Desmond Sutton’s veterinary practice and helps Rose Sutton manage the eight Sutton children at Courier Cottage.

Caroline Longford, seventeen, a student of music composition at the Royal Academy of London, is visiting her grandmother, Lady Longford, at Tidmarsh Manor.

Lester Barrow operates the village pub, the Tower Bank Arms.

George and Mathilda Crook live at Belle Green, where Mrs. Crook takes in boarders. Mr. Crook is the village blacksmith.

Dick and Agnes Llewellyn live next door to Belle Green, at High Green Gate.

Lucy Skead is the village postmistress. She lives with her husband, Joseph (the sexton at St. Peter’s in Far Sawrey), at Low Green Gate Cottage.

John Braithwaite is the constable for both Near and Far Sawrey. He and his wife, Hannah, live at Croft End Cottage with their children.

Tabitha Twitchit, president of the Village Cat Council, is a calico cat with an orange-and-white bib, currently residing with Mrs. Lythecoe. Crumpet is a handsome gray tabby who covets Tabitha’s place on the Council.

Rascal, a Jack Russell terrier, lives with the Crooks at Belle Green but spends his time managing the daily life of the village.

Winston the pony lives at Hill Top Farm and takes Miss Potter wherever she wants to go.

Professor Galileo Newton Owl, D.Phil., is a tawny owl who conducts advanced studies in astronomy and applied natural history from his home in a hollow beech in Cuckoo Brow Wood and his lookout post atop Oat Cake Crag.

Thorvaald, a teenaged dragon, frequently visits his friend Bailey Badger at Briar Bank. Thackery, a guinea pig, lives there, too.

Hyacinth Badger is in charge of The Brockery, a famous animal hostelry on Holly How. Also in residence: Bosworth Badger XVII, retired from his post as holder of the Badge of Authority; Hyacinth’s mother, Primrose, chief housekeeper; and Parsley, chef.