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Anne Lister
Anne Lister (3 April 1791 – 22 September 1840) was an English diarist, famous for revelations for which she was dubbed "the first modern lesbian".
Lister was from a minor landowning family at Shibden in Calderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire. She had several lesbian love affairs from her schooldays onwards, often on long trips abroad; muscular and androgynous in appearance, always dressed in black and highly educated, she was later known—generally unkindly—as "Gentleman Jack". Her final significant relationship was with Ann Walker, to whom she was notionally married in Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York, which is now celebrated as the birthplace of lesbian marriage in Britain.
Lister's diaries reveal much about contemporary life in the West Riding of Yorkshire, including her development of historic Shibden Hall and her interests in medicine, mathematics, landscaping, mining, railways and canals. Many entries were written in code that was not decrypted until long after her death. Containing graphic portrayals of lesbian relationships, these diaries were so frank that they were thought to be a hoax until their authenticity was confirmed.
Anne Lister was the second child and eldest daughter of Captain Jeremy Lister (1753–1836) who, as a young man in 1775, served with the British 10th Regiment of Foot in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in the American War of Independence. In August 1788, he married Rebecca Battle (1770–1817) of Welton in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Their first child, John, was born in 1789 but died the same year. Anne Lister was born in Halifax on 3 April 1791. The family moved in 1793 to an estate named Skelfler House at Market Weighton, which is where Anne spent her earliest years. A second son, Samuel, who was close to Anne, was born in 1793. The Listers had four sons and three daughters, but only Anne and her younger sister Marian (born 13 October 1798) survived past 20 years old.
At the age of seven, Lister was sent to a school in Agnesgate, Ripon, run by a Mrs Hagues and a Mrs Chettle. Between 1801 and 1804, she was educated at home by the Reverend George Skelding, who was the vicar of Market Weighton. Whenever she visited her aunt Anne and Uncle James at Shibden Hall, the Misses Mellin gave her lessons.
While being educated at home, Lister developed an interest in classical literature. In a surviving letter to her aunt from 3 February 1803, the eleven-year-old Lister explains, "My library is my greatest pleasure... The Grecian History had pleased me much."
In 1805, Anne Lister was sent to the Manor House School in York (in the King's Manor buildings), where Anne met her first love, Eliza Raine (1791–1860). Raine was the illegitimate, half-Indian daughter of an East India Company surgeon in Madras, brought to Yorkshire after his death and set to inherit a substantial amount of money. Lister and Raine shared a bedroom at the boarding school. Raine later became a patient at Clifton House Asylum, run by Belcombe's father, William, in 1814.[page needed] Eliza Raine was later transferred to Terrace House in Osbaldwick and died there on 31 January 1860. She is buried in the Osbaldwick churchyard across the road.
Lister inherited the Shibden estate on her uncle's death in 1826, but she only controlled part of its income until the deaths of both her father and her aunt in 1836, when their shares of the income passed to her. In addition to earnings from the agricultural tenancy, Lister's financial portfolio included properties in town, shares in the canal and railway industries, mining, and stone quarries. Her wealth allowed her some measure of freedom to live as she pleased, and she used the income from her varied portfolio to finance her two passions: the renovation of Shibden Hall, and European travel.
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Anne Lister
Anne Lister (3 April 1791 – 22 September 1840) was an English diarist, famous for revelations for which she was dubbed "the first modern lesbian".
Lister was from a minor landowning family at Shibden in Calderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire. She had several lesbian love affairs from her schooldays onwards, often on long trips abroad; muscular and androgynous in appearance, always dressed in black and highly educated, she was later known—generally unkindly—as "Gentleman Jack". Her final significant relationship was with Ann Walker, to whom she was notionally married in Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York, which is now celebrated as the birthplace of lesbian marriage in Britain.
Lister's diaries reveal much about contemporary life in the West Riding of Yorkshire, including her development of historic Shibden Hall and her interests in medicine, mathematics, landscaping, mining, railways and canals. Many entries were written in code that was not decrypted until long after her death. Containing graphic portrayals of lesbian relationships, these diaries were so frank that they were thought to be a hoax until their authenticity was confirmed.
Anne Lister was the second child and eldest daughter of Captain Jeremy Lister (1753–1836) who, as a young man in 1775, served with the British 10th Regiment of Foot in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in the American War of Independence. In August 1788, he married Rebecca Battle (1770–1817) of Welton in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Their first child, John, was born in 1789 but died the same year. Anne Lister was born in Halifax on 3 April 1791. The family moved in 1793 to an estate named Skelfler House at Market Weighton, which is where Anne spent her earliest years. A second son, Samuel, who was close to Anne, was born in 1793. The Listers had four sons and three daughters, but only Anne and her younger sister Marian (born 13 October 1798) survived past 20 years old.
At the age of seven, Lister was sent to a school in Agnesgate, Ripon, run by a Mrs Hagues and a Mrs Chettle. Between 1801 and 1804, she was educated at home by the Reverend George Skelding, who was the vicar of Market Weighton. Whenever she visited her aunt Anne and Uncle James at Shibden Hall, the Misses Mellin gave her lessons.
While being educated at home, Lister developed an interest in classical literature. In a surviving letter to her aunt from 3 February 1803, the eleven-year-old Lister explains, "My library is my greatest pleasure... The Grecian History had pleased me much."
In 1805, Anne Lister was sent to the Manor House School in York (in the King's Manor buildings), where Anne met her first love, Eliza Raine (1791–1860). Raine was the illegitimate, half-Indian daughter of an East India Company surgeon in Madras, brought to Yorkshire after his death and set to inherit a substantial amount of money. Lister and Raine shared a bedroom at the boarding school. Raine later became a patient at Clifton House Asylum, run by Belcombe's father, William, in 1814.[page needed] Eliza Raine was later transferred to Terrace House in Osbaldwick and died there on 31 January 1860. She is buried in the Osbaldwick churchyard across the road.
Lister inherited the Shibden estate on her uncle's death in 1826, but she only controlled part of its income until the deaths of both her father and her aunt in 1836, when their shares of the income passed to her. In addition to earnings from the agricultural tenancy, Lister's financial portfolio included properties in town, shares in the canal and railway industries, mining, and stone quarries. Her wealth allowed her some measure of freedom to live as she pleased, and she used the income from her varied portfolio to finance her two passions: the renovation of Shibden Hall, and European travel.