Mr. McGregor

Mr. McGregor
Mr. McGregor in an illustration from The Tale of Peter Rabbit
First appearance	The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Last appearance	The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
Created by	Beatrix Potter
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Gardener
Spouse(s)	Mrs. McGregor

Mr. McGregor is a fictional character in three children's books by author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. He is an elderly, serio-comic villain of Scots background intent upon keeping hungry rabbits out of his vegetable garden and sometimes catching them to put them in a pie and eat them. Potter denied the character was based on a real person but her mentor in mycology, Charlie McIntosh, may have been the inspiration for McGregor's physical appearance and her landlord in 1893, Atholl McGregor, may have been the source for the character's name. Mr. McGregor appeared in two episodes of an animated BBC television series based on Potter's books in 1993.

On 4 September 1893, Beatrix Potter addressed a story and picture letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of her former governess Annie Carter Moore. The letter told of a humanised lagomorph called Peter Rabbit and his adventure in Mr. McGregor's garden. In the following years, Potter continued to send story and picture letters to Noel and his siblings. Mrs. Moore recognised their literary and artistic value and urged the author to publish them. Potter borrowed the original Peter Rabbit letter from Noel, copied it out, and developed the tale. Attempts to find a publisher for the tale were unsuccessful, and Potter privately published the tale to great success among family and friends. In 1902, Frederick Warne & Co. expressed their interest in the tale, persuaded Potter to colour the illustrations, and published the book in October 1902. The book was wildly popular and Potter's career as a children's author and illustrator was launched.

In 1940, Potter wrote, "I never knew a gardener named 'Mr. McGregor'. Several bearded horticulturalists have resented the nickname; but I do not know how it came about". In a letter of February 1942 to her publisher, Potter claimed McGregor "was no special person", but she may have taken inspiration for the fictional character from two different men of her acquaintance: Atholl McGregor and Charlie McIntosh.

Atholl McGregor was a minor laird who sublet Eastwood, a large dower house at Dunkeld, Scotland belonging to the Duke of Atholl, to the Potters for their summer holiday of 1893. He would likely have been about the place some time during the last days of their occupancy when Potter wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit on 4 September for child friend Noel Moore. Her fictional character's deerstalker cap and sleeveless waistcoat are the sorts of garments a minor laird would have worn to advertise his status.