Anne Lister was an English diarist, traveler, landowner, and businesswoman, best known for her diaries that gave a detailed account of her complex life and her lesbian relationships. Born in West Yorkshire, she belonged to a wealthy family. Her father was a top-level officer in the ‘British Army.’ After being homeschooled initially, she attended the ‘Manor House School’ in York. She was more educated than most women of her time. She is also known in history as the first modern lesbian. In her teenage years, she had fallen in love with her classmate Eliza Raine. She later dated women such as Isabella Norcliffe and Mariana Belcombe. Being homosexual in the early 19th century was a punishable offense. She later inherited a building named ‘Shibden Hall’ from her aunt and became a rich landowner over time. This allowed her to live on her own terms. She began maintaining her diary in 1806 and wrote almost every day, although what she wrote was difficult to decipher due to her handwriting and the codes she used. Throughout her lifetime, she embarked on many trips around Europe. Her experiences recorded in her diary provide an in-depth observation of the social aspects of that era. She married Ann Walker later, and they were together until Anne’s death.
