The tale of the real bear behind Winnie-the-PoohNick Jewers - Wiltshire; Sophie Parker - Wiltshire Wed, October 14, 2026 at 7:35 AM UTC
A bear called Winnie, brought to Wiltshire by a Canadian soldier in 1914, inspired A.A Milne.
A century ago this week, the first Winnie-the-Pooh book was published, but the beloved bear might never have been if not for a Canadian soldier's 1914 visit to Wiltshire.
Harry Colbourn, a vet in the Canadian Armed Veterinary Corps, was stationed on Salisbury Plain during the First World War and brought the regimental mascot, a female bear named Winnie, with him.
It was this real bear that became the inspiration for A.A. Milne‘s ever popular books.
Colbourn’s great-granddaughter, Lindsay Mattick, said he “loved animals” and has now written a book about him.
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Colbourn originally enlisted to look after the cavalry horses.
"When he was in White River, he met a hunter, and the hunter was selling a baby bear cub,” Mattick said.
"And my great-grandfather bought the cub to be a mascot for his regiment of the army. And he named the bear Winnipeg, Winnie for short, so that this bear would be kind of a source of joy, a friend to his fellow soldiers."
Frank Jones, a former school teacher and historian from Tilshead, has fundraised for a plaque in the village to commemorate Colbourn and Winnie.
He said that when the pair arrived on Salisbury Plain, the area "would have been absolutely covered in white bell tents, which would be used to house the forces coming to Salisbury Plain in preparation for going off to the Great War”.
"They would have been full of horses, troops, people drilling, just basically accommodation for them while they got themselves fit and ready to go and fight," he said.
When the soldiers headed to France, Winnie was moved to London Zoo.
TV personality and author Gyles Brandreth was a friend of Milne's son, Christopher Robin Milne, who visited Winnie at the zoo and named his teddy bear after her, which led to the famous friendship in the books.
"According to A.A. Milne, he and Christopher Robin were on holiday somewhere where there was a lake, and on the lake there was a swan,” Brandreth said.
“They couldn't persuade the swan to come and be fed by them. The swan ignored them, and so eventually they ignored the swan. They went away saying, ‘oh, pooh, swan, pooh’. So that's how you get Winnie-the-Pooh."
Brandreth said Winnie "was an instant hit with visitors" at the zoo and when Colbourn returned to take her back to Canada, her popularity made him decide to let her stay instead.
Winnie the bear lived at London Zoo until 1934, when she passed away aged 20.
The zoo’s Tina Campanella said that a History Hive project launched for their 200th anniversary saw many people send "old family photos of their grandparents, their parents with Winnie from back in that time and it's been really heartwarming to see just how many people she touched".
Winnie's skull is currently on temporary display at the Royal College of Surgeons’ Hunterian Museum, its lack of teeth is probably due to the bear having a sweet tooth, just like her famous namesake.
"We know that she definitely lost them about three years before she died,” Carina Phillips, from the museum, said.
“So when she was at least 17 she was toothless, possibly this links to her diet.”
Many bears in captivity were fed sugary buns and Winnie "in particular loved condensed milk with treacle stirred into it".
"Even though she was very tame I can't imagine that they were brushing her teeth," Phillips said.
Records show Winnie also had cataracts and osteoarthritis.
As the original Winnie-the-Pooh book marks its centenary year, Winnie the bear continues to be immortalised in books, cartoons and merchandise.
Mark Burgess, from Somerset, has worked as one of the illustrators since 1989.
"I had the stories read to me when I was little and always loved them. So, it was a real honour,” he said.
"The characters are so lovely, it's a bit like being an actor - you have to sort of inhabit the characters in order to produce nice, lively drawings, so that's what I tried to do."
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Tilshead, Wiltshire: Winnie the Pooh on Salisbury Plain
Related internet links
London Zoo
Hunterian Museum
Source: Nature