Line-up for Anne Lister festival is announced
EVENTS WILL CELEBRATE 230TH BIRTHDAY OF HISTORIC FIGURE
THE line-up of the official festival to celebrate the 230th birthday of Anne Lister – aka Gentleman Jack – has been announced.
To celebrate the famous diarist, businesswoman and first modern lesbian’s birthday on April 3, Calderdale Council will be running a series of online events.
The festival was set to be based around Shibden Hall – Lister’s 600-year-old home – but Covidsafe alternative arrangements had to be made following the outbreak of the pandemic.
The council’s Museums Service will be releasing new films and content online on the birthday of Lister, whose international fame exploded due to the success of Sally Wainwright’s biopic Gentleman Jack, which aired on the BBC and HBO in 2019.
Links to other local events to celebrate Lister’s birthday and legacy will be shared over the Easter weekend.
These include a new podcast by Calderdale Libraries with three episodes about Anne Lister and Shibden Hall on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 April. For more information visit www.visitcalderdale. com. Zohrah Zancudi, Calderdale Council’s Director of Public Services,
said: “Anne Lister and her incredible story have inspired so many people around the world. We are honoured to mark her 230th birthday to celebrate her life, legacy and impact.
“The beautiful Shibden Hall is a key part of Anne’s legacy, and we are excited to mark its 600th birthday as soon as possible. Although we can’t gather in person, the many fantastic online activities will open up both commemorations to a global audience.
“The phenomenal success of Gentleman Jack secured Calderdale’s place on the map as a major cultural, LGBTQ and heritage destination, leading to unprecedented visitor numbers to Shibden Hall and beyond.
“The impact of the first series, and the upcoming addition of the second series which is currently being filmed, will form part of our economic recovery from Covid-19 when it is safe to make the most of the ‘Gentleman Jack effect’ again.”
A brief history of Shibden Hall and Anne Lister First built in around 1420/1 by a sheep farmer called William Otes, Shibden derives from ‘schepe dene’ meaning ‘valley of the sheep.’
The families who lived in it over the coming centuries modernised the building and added extensions until Anne Lister got her hands on it and transformed the hall into what you can still see today – a Tudor-looking manor house with a tower, lake and a section of stone battlements.
It is now run as a museum by Calderdale Council and retains traditional furnishings from the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Lister, born in 1791, was a savvy businesswoman and landowner as well as a prolific diarist.
Regarded as the ‘first modern lesbian,’ her openly lesbian lifestyle provoked consternation and mockery (including the derogatory nickname ‘Gentleman Jack’) among her conservative business rivals and the families of her partners.
The BBC/HBO drama of the same name drew millions of viewers from both sides of the Atlantic and boosted tourism in Halifax.
Its director Sally Wainwright was awarded Freedom of the Borough of Calderdale in recognition.