Author Description

Anne Lister, Ann Walker and me: The amazing true story of two 19th century landed-ladies whose courage and determination to share life's journey together as a married couple is an inspiration to lesbians across the globe. My own journey to discover how it came about that Anne Lister and Ann Walker fell in love and moved in together at Shibden Hall, Halifax, in 1834, started when I had been transcribing Anne Lister's diaries for the West Yorkshire Archive Service.during 2019 and 2020.<br/><br/>From my transcribing of Anne Lister's diaries, I soon came to the conclusion that she was an extremely intelligent, well-educated and highly engaging person, but that the key to truly recognising the extraordinary woman that she was, was an appreciation of what she referred to as her 'oddity', essentially her lesbian nature, the powerful driving force of her life.<br/><br/>Anne's diary January 1821: 'I love and only love the fairer sex, and thus beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any other love than theirs'.<br/><br/>Anne and Ann's courtship was exciting, passionate, but also tortuous with so many obstacles to be overcome. In a letter from Ann Walker to Anne Lister in February 1834: 'do come quickly for I am getting dull and I want you in a thousand ways'.<br/><br/>Their honeymoon, in the summer of 1834, lasted twelve and a half weeks and involved a journey of about 2000 miles, mostly in their own carriage but also by boat, by char-a-banc, on foot and by mule.<br/><br/>Sunday, August 31st, 1834, was the first full day of Anne Lister and Ann Walker living together at Shibden as a married couple. The next month or so would be exciting and, at times, exhausting for them both as they brought Ann Walker's possessions from Lidgate House to Shibden Hall, made extensive changes to some of the rooms at the hall and bought new furniture and furnishings to create the own space where they could be comfortable and snug.