Anne Lister and Ann Walker's archival legacy

The 'first modern lesbian'

Anne Lister (1791–1840) has become known as the 'first modern lesbian'. Dramatised in the TV series Gentleman Jack, Lister was a prolific diarist and landowner who lived in Halifax, Yorkshire. Lister had many relationships with women and wrote about them in coded diaries, leaving a rare insight into 19th-century sexuality and gender identity.

I love and only love the fairer sex

Anne Lister diary entry, 29 January 1821

The diaries, held at West Yorkshire Archive Service, reveal a whole circle of women in Yorkshire involved in same-sex relationships. Lister was an unconventional and complex figure for the time, using female pronouns, wearing masculine clothes and sometimes referred to by male names.

Falling in love

From 1832, Lister was in a relationship with local landowner Ann Walker (1803–1854). The pair formed a deep bond and considered themselves married. To symbolise their union, they took communion together on Easter Sunday, 1834, in Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate.

The couple lived together at Shibden Hall, the 600-year-old Lister family estate that Anne had inherited from an uncle. Moving there in 1815, Lister loved the house dearly and efficiently managed the estate from 1826.

In formal legal documents, Walker described their relationship as being 'for many years on great intimacy', and they wrote each other into their wills. In an era far before same-sex marriage was made legal, the couple found these ways of showing their love and finding legal protections for each other.

The European journey and Lister's death

In 1839, Lister and Walker embarked on a two-year journey across Scandinavia and the Caucasus region.

Lister enjoyed travelling, driven by an adventurous spirit and passion for mountaineering. Unfortunately, the trip would end in tragedy. Lister contracted a fever and died on 22 September 1840 in Kutaisi, Georgia. Walker returned to Shibden Hall, some 3,000 miles away, while Lister’s embalmed body was eventually brought back separately to Halifax. Lister was buried in a vault in Halifax Parish Church, now Halifax Minster.

A love reflected in wills

The National Archives holds a substantial collection of wills, including some bundles of originals in the series PROB 10. These are generally signed and sealed by the testators and witnesses. In these records, we can find traces of Lister and Walker's lives. Both had re-written their wills to reflect their relationship before they commenced their travels.

The couple each left the other a lifetime inheritance of their properties, with a clause that if the other should marry, they would be disinherited as they should have 'then departed this life.' This clause, though sounding dramatic, was agreed upon by both parties and was a common form of wording at the time, designed to protect individuals and estates due to women’s limited property rights.

This stipulation was also recorded in previous versions of Lister’s will relating to other partners and family members. Many of Lister’s former lovers had married, and Lister’s desire to protect Shibden Hall was clear. Ultimately, their wills reflect their deep love, the challenges of female inheritance and the importance of their family estates.

The lifetime inheritance meant that upon Lister’s death, Walker was able to live in Shibden Hall, but after her death, it was passed back to the Lister family. We hold a copy of Walker’s will, but a later version written to reflect Lister’s death.

The aftermath and legal disputes

Walker faced numerous challenges after Lister’s death, including legal disputes over Lister’s will and the management of the estate. One significant case was Walker v Gray, where Walker, described as of 'unsound mind,' was the plaintiff against William Gray, the family solicitor, and Lister’s relatives, John and Mary Ann Lister. The case revolved around disagreements over the costs of their travels and the rents from Shibden Hall.

The documents in C 106 consist of varied private papers delivered to the Court of Chancery by plaintiffs and defendants as evidence in their cases. A curious box of items from this series survives relating to Walker v. Gray.

The box includes occasional notes by Lister (some in the infamous code), letters to Walker proving her location after Lister's death, receipts from various hotels from Denmark to Moscow, funeral-related material, and numerous accounts and figures.

The box of items highlights the complexity of managing the estate, dealing with new technological advances, water, rents, and allocation of church pews. It underscores the significant administrative burden Walker had to bear while navigating extreme grief. Some of the account books contain lists of clothing, emphasising Lister's masculine, gender-non-conforming presentation.

Walker's final days

Walker was not to live permanently at Shibden Hall. Three years after Lister’s death, she was declared of 'unsound mind.' Walker spent her remaining years in various places, including a York-based asylum and her previous family home, Cliff Hill.

Walker passed away on 25 February 1854, at the age of 50. The couple were not buried next to each other.

Despite the decade and a half that had passed since Lister's death, Walker's final gestures showed her continued care for those important to Lister. She left money to some of Lister’s relatives and gifted Dr John Lister her church pew. These acts reflected who she was thinking about in her final days, demonstrating the couple’s enduring connection.

Legacy

Lister and Walker’s story, preserved in diaries, legal documents, and Court of Chancery exhibits, offers a rich and complex portrait of two people who defied societal norms to live their lives on their terms.

Their archival legacy prompts us to reflect on how many other lives like theirs existed but went unrecorded. So often, the lives of lesbian, bisexual, and gender-diverse individuals are difficult to trace. Explicit sources, such as Lister's diaries, are rare. However, by reading between the lines of legal and life records, we can discover significant insights into the lives and contexts in which they lived.

Find out more

Almost 200 years later, Lister and Walker continue to inspire and intrigue. With more to uncover and understand, a worldwide community of sexuality and gender identity historians and researchers continue to investigate their lives:

• Packed with Potential is a hub for individuals who share an interest in uncovering and understanding the lives of Anne Lister and those in her circle.
• In Search of Ann Walker is a collective of researchers, transcribers, administrators and writers exploring her life.
• The West Yorkshire Archive Service Blog, which holds Lister's diaries, continue to share new findings.
• Digital images of Lister’s diaries are available to view on the online catalogue of the West Yorkshire Archive Service.
• Watch our 2025 YouTube film that asks, 'Who was Anne Lister?'

All links accessed 2 June 2025.

Records featured in this article

• From our collection

  FO 610/2

  Title

  Entry book of passports issued

  Date

  21 September 1822 – 3 September 1841

• From our collection

  PROB 10/6000

  Title

  Wills proved during April 1841

  Date

  April 1841

• From our collection

  PROB 10/7038

  Title

  Wills proved during May 1854

  Date

  May 1854

• From our collection

  C 106/60

  Title

  Papers delivered to the Court of Chancery for Walker v Gray

  Date

  1839–1840

• From our collection

  C 211/28/W249

  Title

  Records on Ann Walker's health and property

  Date

  2 November 1843