Undeterred, Anne tied her dress and petticoats around her legs and - wearing nail-studded leather boots - made her way up the mountainside. All four of Lister’s brothers died prematurely, so upon James’ death in 1826, Shibden was left to his entrepreneurial niece. The extent to which Lister’s close relatives were aware of her homosexuality is unclear. Her father, according to Whitbread, seems to have known and quietly accepted his daughter’s preference for women. And her uncle James may have in fact been relieved that his niece was disinclined to legally marry—and therefore was unlikely to fall prey to “unscrupulous fortune-hunters,” notes historian Jill Liddington in Female Fortune, an edited selection of Lister’s writings. Barker, D.M. (2018). "Ann Walker, Anne Lister and St Matthew's Church, Lightcliffe" (PDF). www.lightcliffechurchyard.org.uk. p.18 . Retrieved 24 April 2022. That I had never varied & no effort on my part had been able to counteract it. That the girls liked me & had always liked me. That I had never been refused by anyone & that, without attempting to account for the thing, I hoped it might, under such circumstances be excused. The encoded portions of Anne’s diaries document her passionate love affairs with other women. Anne was strikingly free and easy about her sexuality and her numerous romantic encounters. She openly courted young women–many of whom seemed most willing to fall under her spell. The secret code

Green, Muriel (1992). Miss Lister of Shibden Hall: Selected Letters (1800–1840). Sussex, England: The Book Guild. p.18. ISBN 0-86332-672-2.

How to Vote

Besides, Sir T. H. was proved to be a perfect man by his having a child & it was infamous to be connected with both sexes – but that [there] were beings who were so unfortunate as to be not quite so perfect &, supposing they kept to one side [of] the question, was there no excuse for them.

I love and only love the fairer sex, and thus beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any love but theirs,” Lister wrote in her diary in 1820. Before she eventually settled down with heiress Ann Walker, Lister won the hearts of numerous other women. Courting them wasn’t always easy, but Lister had her methods. While flirting, she used to gauge the other party’s interest by mentioning books or plays that dealt with LGBTQ issues—like the writings of Juvenal, a Roman poet who had some pretty strong opinions about homosexuality. By watching the listener’s reaction, Lister could often predict if her advances would be successful. 2. Traditionally “feminine” clothing just wasn’t Lister’s style.Anne Lister was a fascinating complicated person and this book presents her diaries and letters from the 1830s from when she met Ann Walker and when they were "married" ie season one of the show. This account firmly identifies Lister as a butch lesbian but doesn't mention that there is a lot of evidence of her gender nonconformity and that she didn't straightforwardly see herself as a woman, so that was disappointing. Butch lesbian is a totally valid interpretation of Lister from her writing but it doesn't feel right to pretend it's the only one. She inherited Shibden Hall, Halifax from her uncle and massively improved it, managing its farms with great efficiency. It was at Shibden that she met Ann Walker whom she would ‘marry’. The book recounts the affairs that she had up to meeting heiress Ann in 1832; her most passionate affair prior to this was to Mariana Belcombe who broke Anne’s heart when she married Charles Lawton. The relationship between Anne and Ann was a strange one in some ways as for the first two years of the relationship Ann would not commit to them being together and to AL’s frustration frequently prevaricated. Their relationship became sexual and this was described in the dairies. AL felt that Ann was far more sexually aware than she ever let on and certainly wasn’t an innocent. It emerged later that she had some form of affair with Reverend Ainsworth. Rupp, Leila J. (1999). A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America. The University of Chicago Press. p.10. ISBN 978-0-226-73156-8. Life [ edit ] James Lister (from whom Anne Lister inherited the Shibden estate) by Joshua Horner (1812–1884)

Music and Performance: Interview with O'Hooley and Tidow". When Sally Met Sally. 12 September 2012. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012 . Retrieved 15 September 2012. Green, Muriel, Miss Lister of Shibden Hall: Selected Letters (1800–1840). (The Book Guild Ltd, 1992) Revealing Anne Lister". BBC Two Programmes. BBC. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010 . Retrieved 10 June 2010.You descend to Buxton down a very steep narrow road with an ill-fenced off precipice (the case in many other parts of the road) on your right. The appearance of the town is very singular – surrounded by rude, bleak, barren lime-stone mountains covered with lime-kilns. Liddington, Jill (1993). "Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, Halifax (1791–1840): Her Diaries and the Historians". History Workshop Journal. 35 (1): 45–77. doi: 10.1093/hwj/35.1.45. It’s sort of a biography of the incredible and iconic lesbian of the 19th century Anne Lister. She kept a diary for most of her life so much of this book is excerpts of her own writing with added explanation / shortened history to make it an easier read. Throughout her life, Lister had a strong Anglican faith, [19] and also remained a Tory, "interested in defending the privileges of the land-owning aristocracy". [20] Travel [ edit ] Watercolour portrait of Lister, probably by a Mrs Turner of Halifax, 1822