We were given a talk by Christine Booth from Shibden Hall in Halifax

She gave an amazing insight into the life of Anne Lister who was born in 1791 and lived at Shibden Hall in Halifax.  She died in 1840, but achieved many things in her life.  She was a remarkable business woman, a traveller and mountaineer.

Though we were told about her family background, childhood and her schooldays, education, daily life and work, the focus of the talk was Anne Lister’s diaries.

Anne kept diaries from her schooldays throughout her life.  They were written in code, which was developed to keep the contents secret.  They detailed her daily life, education and work but also her relationships with women throughout her life.   This was all logged in both diaries and schoolgirl notebooks.  It is thought that the code was developed to keep the details of her raltionships secret from her lovers’ husbands.