Anne Lister (1791-1840) was an English diarist, famous for revelations for which she was dubbed "the first modern lesbian."
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
All month, we’re celebrating Pride. Today, our story is sourced straight from the Womannican herself. Over the course of her life, she wrote over five million words in twenty-six diaries about her life. About a sixth of her writings were written in code. When decoded after her death, it became clear that these diaries detailed her love affairs with multiple women of the English aristocracy. Her journals have become a detailed account of lesbian society at the time when that word had not yet been coined. Recently, her story was adapted for TV in the series, Gentleman Jack. We’re talking about the life and loves of Anne Lister.
Anne was born in 1791 in Halifax, England. Her family was part of the minor-gentry. Anne’s parents believed Anne should be formally educated, an unusual thing for women at that time, so Anne was sent to boarding school. Anne was very intelligent and quite rebellious.
While at school, Anne began keeping her diary. It was a habit she would keep for the rest of her life. She also had her first sexual experience with another female student named Eliza Raine. When writing about their relationship, Anne began using code to ensure her lesbianism would remain secret, even in the pages of her journal. Though she started with a simple code to censor explicitly romantic actions, Anne’s cipher would soon evolve to use zodiac symbols, random letters, and calligraphy to shroud her entries in secrecy.
From a young age, Anne refused to dress or act according to society rules for girls like her. Accounts say she wore so-called “masculine” clothes, and she engaged in activities usually reserved for men, including traveling and managing her own estate.
In 19th century Britain, homosexual acts were illegal.
Sexual relationships between women were seemingly not part of the conversation and were not called out in legislation barring men from sexual acts with other men.
It was common for unmarried, wealthy white women like Anne to be close with other women. These relationships were called “romantic friendships” and were even encouraged as a way for young women to prevent premarital scandal with men. As long as they weren’t explicitly sexual, Anne’s relationships with women were considered perfectly normal… but, according to her diaries, Anne wasn’t exactly secretive about her intentions with these women.
Anne’s diaries paint a picture of a tumultuous love life. After leaving school, Anne abandoned Eliza in favor of Mariana Belcombe. Anne and Mariana would go on to have an on-again off-again affair for nearly twenty years. Meanwhile, a heartbroken Eliza became so depressed, her family sent her to an asylum.
Anne’s heartbreak wasn’t far behind. She and Mariana acted committed: they traveled more than 40 miles to see each other, wrote the other love letters while apart, and even exchanged rings. But in 1815, Mariana married a wealthy landowner. Allegedly, Anne wore only black from this point on, to mourn Mariana’s marriage. Despite Mariana officially marrying someone else, the relationship continued. Thanks to the importance of their “romantic friendship,” Anne even traveled with Mariana on her honeymoon.
Their relationship lasted in secret for another 11 years before Mariana called it off.
While Anne was increasingly confident in her sexuality, and had the privilege to act on her identity as she wanted, she became the subject of gossip in high society.
She also was fodder for gossip due to her impressive business acumen. In 1826, she inherited her family home, Shibden Hall. She reinvigorated the estate’s finances by doubling down in the coal industry, a business dominated by local men.
Even with her shrewd business decisions, Anne’s travelling and spending caught up with her, and she set her sights on marrying a woman with wealth.
Twenty-nine year-old Ann Walker fit the bill. The two took communion together and exchanged rings in 1834. They shared finances and adjusted their wills to benefit the other. While they weren’t married in name, they went on a 3-month honeymoon and settled down at Shibden.
The marriage was far from perfect: Anne Lister used her wife’s fortune to fund repairs at Shibden and travel abroad, often to Ann Walker’s horror.
Still, Anne Lister loved to travel and continued to bring her wife along for the ride. Ann Walker was seemingly not into it, often complaining of illnesses to go home. During one of these trips, Anne Lister allegedly became the first recorded person to climb the highest mountain in the Pyrenees, though a Russian prince took the official title.
On August 11, 1840, Anne Lister penned her final journal entry. Six weeks later, she died due to a fever at the age of 49.
Anne’s diaries made it back to England, where they were passed down to other branches of her family. In the 1890s, a descendant named John Lister decoded her messages. He hid the diaries and the code out of fear that revealing Anne’s sexuality would bring shame on the Lister family. It wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s that her diaries were published by a historian named Helena Whitbread.
Today, Anne is often called the “first modern lesbian” by historians of sexuality. Though the title is hotly debated, Anne and her diaries are often referenced in conversations on lesbian history.
All month, we’re celebrating Pride.
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Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!