#AnneLister182 Celebrating Her Legacy

Thursday 22nd September 2022 marks 182 years since the death of Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, Halifax, Yorkshire.

Anne, who lived from 1791 to 1840, was a remarkable woman: landowner, entrepreneur, mountaineer, scholar, traveller, and lesbian. Her fascinating diaries of over five million words detailed her life, loves, health, business interests and politics. Her journals are so historically significant they have been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. Anne Lister’s story now inspires people across the globe, following the international success of Sally Wainwright’s BBC/HBO TV show ‘Gentleman Jack’, which is based on Anne’s life and diaries, and was filmed here in Calderdale.

THURSDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER (the anniversary of Anne Lister’s death)

10am-4pm: Bankfield Museum is open , with free entry. Enjoy Anne Lister themed exhibitions ‘Costumes from Gentleman Jack’ and ‘Fashion in Anne Lister’s Time’, plus the Shibden 600 exhibition, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment Museum and much more. The Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am-4pm. FREE entry. For more information please visit the Bankfield Museum website. (Bankfield Museum, Akroyd Park, Boothtown Road, Halifax, HX3 6HG).

10am-5pm: Anne’s former home Shibden Hall is open daily Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat-Sun 11am-5pm. To guarantee your visit, please book your timed entry to the Hall. On occasion there may be opportunity to purchase tickets on arrival at the Hall, but time slots may not be guaranteed. Admission: Adult £8, Concession £5, Family (2 adults, 2 children) £21.  You can book September admission to Shibden Hall here. (Shibden Hall, Lister’s Road, Halifax, HX3 6XG).

10am-6.30pm: Halifax Central Library & Archive has two displays that link to Anne Lister and some of the themes covered in Gentleman Jack Series 2, but also cover other aspects of 19^th Century Halifax. ’19^th Century General Election Cartoons’  includes the 1832 and 1835 elections which Anne talks about (1835 being covered in Gentleman Jack).  This display is located on the first floor. The second display is located on the lower ground floor, and is about children employed in coal mines during Anne Lister’s time.

10.30am & 3pm: The atmospheric 900-year-old Halifax Minster was an important building to Anne and her faith in God was central to her life. She was baptised, worshipped and buried there. Enjoy an Anne Lister Themed Tour of Halifax Minster. Tours last  75-90 minutes. Tickets £10 per person. For details of all of the Minster events and activities please email admin@halifaxminster.org.uk .  Minster events are bookable through the Minster Office and website. Halifax Minster is open for quiet reflection for 12 Noon to 4pm. (Halifax Minster , Causeway, Halifax, HX1 1QL.)

1pm: A ‘Thursday at One’ organ recital will take place on Halifax Minster’s magnificent organ, by organist William Campbell, Organ scholar from Leeds Minster.  The event is not part of the AL182 celebrations but you are most welcome to come along and enjoy it.  It is free to attend, with a retiring collection, and light lunches will be available.

4pm-5.30pm: (NB This is an Online event) Meet the travel journals of Anne Lister with the WYAS Conservation team. An opportunity to view a selection of Anne’s travel journals online and learn about their craftsmanship and conservation. By Donation.  Please book your places here.

FRIDAY 23rd SEPTEMBER

10am-4pm: Bankfield Museum is open. For details please see under Thursday 22nd September above.

10am-5pm: Shibden Hall is open. For details please see under Thursday 22nd September above.

10am-5.30pm: Halifax Central Library & Archive  is open. For details please see under Thursday 22nd September above.

12 Noon-4pm: Halifax Minster is open for quiet reflection.

2pm: Young Anne Lister in Halifax – A Calderdale Heritage Walk. View the house where Anne lived as a girl, with buildings and locations in Halifax associated with her earlier years. Learn about her early schooling in the town, her private tutor, and her point of departure on stagecoach journeys. Where did her earliest girlfriend live; and where did she buy her blank diaries? Also, see the home and bank of Christopher Rawson, and a filming location from Gentleman Jack. A circular walk lasting up to 3 hours. £5 per person. Book your tickets via Ticketsource.

7pm: Anne Lister Memorial Service at Halifax Minster. A formal memorial service to remember Anne Lister and celebrate her legacy.  Led by Revd. Sam Crook.  FREE.

SATURDAY 24th SEPTEMBER

NB Please note that Halifax Minster will be closed for a private event on Saturday 24^th until 3pm.

9.30am: Flower laying at Anne’s statue at the Piece Hall, Halifax. FREE. (Piece Hall, Blackledage, Halifax, HX1 1RE)

10am-4pm: Bankfield Museum is open. For details please see under Thursday 22nd September above.

11am-5pm: Shibden Hall is open. For details please see under Thursday 22nd September above.

10am-4pm: Halifax Central Library & Archive  is open. For details please see under Thursday 22nd September above.

11am: A Visit to Anne Lister’s Lower Brear.  David Glover will read and speak a few words inside Lower Brear.  There will be no seating available, but this is an exclusive opportunity to see inside one of Anne Lister’s ancient properties, tenanted in her time by George Robinson.  Approx. 1hr, to include looking both inside, and outside of the property.  Extremely limited parking near Lower Brear itself.  If possible consider parking carefully and considerately at the roadside at Mytholm and walk from there, under the railway – in Anne Lister’s footsteps. Or of course at Anne’s own Shibden Park.  By Donation. (Meet by the café in Shibden Park: Coffee Culture In The Park,  Mereside Centre, Shibden Park, HX3 6XG.  There will then be a walk up a set of steps to the house.)

2.30pm: Anne Lister Means Business And maybe Some Shopping – A Calderdale Heritage Walk. Anne Lister regularly strode down to Halifax from Shibden. She had to see her lawyer and her bank manager. Was there also time for shopping? Guided walk with Jill Liddington, finishing with a Q&A around 4.30pm. £5 per person. Book your tickets via Ticketsource. 

6.00-7.30pm (doors open 5.30pm).  We are thrilled to bring to you this brand new event – a talk, delivered by none other than Helena Whitbread:  one of the earlier transcribers of Anne Lister’s diaries, who will present Eliza Raine comes to Town… Come along and hear Helena focus the spotlight on the fascinating Eliza Raine, Anne’s first girlfriend, having met when they were teenagers.  Helena will look at Eliza’s time in Halifax, and will be sharing some previously unknown facts with us from her many years of research. (Venue:  Calderdale Industrial Museum, Square Road, Halifax, HX1 1QG)  Tickets £7.50, available from the Industrial Museum from 1pm on Wednesday 7^th September – 01422 384721 email: manager@calderdaleindustrial.co.uk.

SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER

NB Please note that Bankfield Museum and Halifax Central Library & Archive are closed on Sundays.

10.30am -12.30pm: Lightcliffe Tower Opening. The Friends of Friendless Churches/Friends of St Matthew’s Churchyard are opening Lightcliffe Tower for two hours on Sunday morning to allow visitors to see inside the Tower and the memorials it contains, including Ann Walker’s newly restored plaque.  Leaflets will be available explaining more about the memorials in the Tower, as well as where the ‘Gentleman Jack’-related grave plots are, and other plots relevant to the Ann Walker and Anne Lister story.  By Donation. (Lightcliffe Tower, Old St Matthew’s Churchyard, Lightcliffe, HX3 8TH.)

11am-5pm: Shibden Hall is open. For details please see under Thursday 22nd September above.

12 Noon-4pm: Halifax Minster is open for quiet reflection

1.30pm: Inside the Former Holy Trinity Church. now Trinity House. David Glover will read and speak a few words inside Trinity House (no seating) where you will have the incredibly rare opportunity to see some of the Rawson family memorials, and also the memorial to John Abbott.  Approx. 1hr, to include looking both inside and outside of Trinity House.  By Donation. (Trinity House, Blackwall, Halifax, HX1 2QR.)

7.30pm: After Anne Lister’s Death: Ann Walker, The Long Journey, and Shibden Hall 1840-54.  Talk by local historian David Glover at The Green Room Bar of Victoria Theatre. Further details TBC. (Victoria Theatre, 2 Fountain Street, Halifax, HX1 1BP.)

So thank you, Anne Lister, for everything you have given us. Your life was not long, but it was full. It was courageous, inspirational, and meaningful. We look forward to commemorating and celebrating your life and legacy together, with our friends across the globe.

You can read more about Anne Lister and Gentleman Jack in our Gentleman Jack pages.