Anne Lister

Anne Lister (1791–1840) was a well-off Yorkshire landowner, diarist and traveller.Throughout her life she kept diaries which chronicled the details of her everyday life, including her lesbian relationships, her financial concerns, her industrial activities and her work improving Shibden Hall. The code, derived from a combination of algebra and Ancient Greek, was deciphered in the 1930s. Called "Fred" by her lover and "Gentleman Jack" by Halifax residents, she suffered from harassment for her sexuality, and recognised her similarity to the Ladies of Llangollen, whom she visited.

She was a rural gentlewoman who directed the renovation and landscaping of Shibden Hall, near Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which she had inherited from her uncle.

Life

Anne was the eldest daughter of Jeremy Lister who as a young man in 1775 served with the British 10th Regiment of Foot in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. She wrote a detailed...
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