Anne Lister Research

My work with Anne Lister

Growing up in Halifax, I remember countless trips to Shibden as a boy. On one visit, on a particularly slow day, a volunteer took me around the entire house, giving my mum and me what was essentially a private tour of the house. Since that day, I have always had an interest in the family and the role that Shibden Hall played in my town.

Since then, I have taken my interest and made it a core element of my academic work. Throughout College and University, Anne Lister and Shibden Hall always returned as topics of research within my work, which culminated in my dissertation in 2025, "The many faces of Anne Lister", which explores queer curation and media through the lens of Shibden Hall as a museum, as well as artistic depictions of Anne Lister.

The Many Faces of Anne Lister: Queer Identity in Media and Curating

BA dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of a BA(Hons) in Curating and Art History at the University of York.

A Photographic & Contextual Guide to Anne Lister's Yorkshire

A research project for my Level 3 BTEC in Art and Design Practice, Exhibited at the Crossley Gallery at Dean Clough, Halifax.

This portfolio explores the evolving legacy of Anne Lister (1791–1840), tracing her journey from a nineteenth-century Yorkshire landowner to an internationally recognised symbol of queer and feminist identity. The project originally began as a visual study during my BTEC Level 3 Extended National Diploma, where I used photography, screen printing, and architectural research in Halifax to bring her story to a broader audience. This creative foundation later developed into my undergraduate dissertation, "The Many Faces of Anne Lister: Queer Identity in Media and Curating," for which I was awarded a Distinction in my BA (Hons) in Curating and Art History at the University of York. Shaped by a close personal connection to Yorkshire and the queer community, this work examines how the modern world reshapes historical figures and how those reinterpretations, in turn, influence contemporary visibility and public memory.

The research itself is split into three main areas. First, I look at early self-representation, contrasting the conventional rules of traditional oil portraiture with Lister's own intimate self-perception. Second, I analyse the "Gentleman Jack Effect," exploring how recent media, television drama, and folk music have introduced a highly dramatised version of Lister to a global audience. Finally, I take a critical look at the curation of Shibden Hall, tracing its history from institutional silence during the Section 28 era to its current role as a major site of international queer pilgrimage. Ultimately, this project is an argument for inclusive curatorial practices that actively value and centre marginalised histories within our public spaces.

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