Everyone—well, almost everyone—knows the story of “Winnie-the-Pooh” and his friends; if not the original stories by A.A. Milne, at least the Disney version. So I will relate how Winnie was “born”.

In August 1914, a Canadian veterinarian and soldier with the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps purchased as a female cub in White River, Ontario, Canada. Lt. Colebourn smuggled the bear cub into Britain as an unofficial regimental mascot. She was named for Lt. Colebourn’s home city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

When the regiment was ordered to France, Winnipeg (aka Winnie), was left at the London Zoo for the duration of the war. After the war was over, Colebourn decided to leave her at the London Zoo where she was much loved for her playfulness and gentleness. She lived at the zoo until her death in 1934.

One of Winnipeg’s ardent fans was A.A. Milne’s son Christopher Robin who regularly enticed his father into visiting the zoo. Christopher Robin changed the name of his own teddy bear from “Edward Bear” to “Winnie the Pooh” and so provided the inspiration for his father’s stories about Winnie-the-Pooh (first published in October 1926) and friends. Faded Page also has Now We are Six (1927) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928).

Historica Canada created the following heart-warming vignette about Winnie.

Please note that we were not able to include any of the original illustrations done by E.H. Shepard as they will not be in the Public Domain in Canada until 2047 as Shepard died in 1976.

Come join us and proof a few pages to help us bring more public domain titles to Canada. More information about volunteering is available on our companion site Distributed Proofreaders Canada.

Image source: Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons