On Monday 21st March, the Brindle Historical Society members finally got to hear a talk that they’d been promised two years ago just as the Covid-19 precautions were beginning to take effect. Thankfully, our speaker, Pat Osborne, was able to reschedule and we finally heard all about the antics of Anne Lister of Shibden Hall. The talk provided more historical background to the characters many of us are now familiar with from watching the BBC TV drama ‘Gentleman Jack’, and Pat was able to ‘set the scene’ admirably for us.
We learned that Shibden Hall was originally built in 1420 and passed through many generations and changes of ownership during its early life, only coming into the hands of Anne Lister in 1825 when she was only 34, although by then she had lived there with her uncle and aunt for a decade.
Anne was a very astute and energetic owner and took a keen interest in the estate, supervising building work, farming and even established a coal mine in the grounds. She also supported local schools and took a keen interest in gadgets and new inventions but her biggest claim to fame nowadays is that she kept very detailed diaries of her private life. These diaries were written in a secret code, and once the code was cracked, the diaries were found to be so shocking to Victorian sensibilities that they were never published until 1933. The secrets that the diaries concealed were that Anne was a lesbian who took a series of lovers over her life, cruelly leaving them like cast off clothing at her whim. The diaries have now become a social history showing, as they do, not just the salacious life of Anne, but also a true insight into life in the late Georgian era.
Anne was a great traveller, and spent time in France, Italy, Belgium and Denmark before even traveling to Russia in 1839. It was there that she sadly met her death from an infection following an insect bite. Her body was transported back to UK (taking 7 months!) where her remains were interred in Halifax parish church.
Shibden Hall and its gardens are now owned by the Borough of Halifax and are open to the public.
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