Anne Lister & Gentleman Jack

Anne Lister & Gentleman Jack Hosted Group Tours
Bringing Anne Lister to life on our tours of Halifax, York, Shibden Hall, Lightcliffe Cemetery & More

Find out more about our Anne Lister Tours & UK Weekend Breaks below

The Gentleman Jack series has caught the eyes
and the hearts of a world-wide community

Since the screening of the BBC's & HBO's Gentleman Jack series, written by Sally Wainwright and starring Suranne Jones, the Anne Lister story has been brought to life for everyone to enjoy. Our Anne Lister / Gentleman Jack tour take us to Miss Lister’s hometown of Halifax, guding you through the town where Anne Lister once walked briskly through its streets, seeing many of the buildings Anne frequented during her visits. One of the many high-lights is entering the stunning Halifax Minster where Anne was christened and buried. On our way to Anne's ancestral home, Shibden Hall, where we take a fascinating journey through the life of Anne and her family we stop at Bankfield Museum for our EXCLUSIVE talk by Helena Whitbread, de-coder of the Anne Lister diaries. On day 2 we embark on our "In the footsteps of Anne Lister" 3 hour Guided Walking Tour of York. It's here you will step back in time on a fascinating journey, exploring the beautiful city of York where Anne Lister mixed with some of the wealthiest and most influential men and women of the time. A city of lovers and friendships. All exquisitely documented in her once-secret diaries. Our tour will enchant and delight you as we bring Anne to life in York. With EXCLUSIVE entry to Holy Trinity Church where Anne Lister & Ann Walker took the sacrament as seen in Gentleman Jack. All of these high-lights will give you a real sense of what it was like for Anne Lister living in Yorkshire during the 1800s

The series has caught the eyes and the hearts of a world-wide community

Anne Lister began transcribing her life at the age of fifteen, continuing up to her untimely death at the age of 49. Not mere diaries, Miss Lister’s writings describe the everyday life of the late 18th century / early 19th century England. Her work, totally 22 volumes and over 6 million words, is considered so important that UNESCO has placed her diaries in their UK Memory of the World collection, one of only twenty such objects honoured in this regard.

Her entries did not stop with politics, science of the day, land management and local society. What makes Miss Lister’s work so compelling are her “crypt-hand” entries. Making up over twenty per cent of the content, Miss Lister used this code to describe, in detail, her emotional life. As she herself said: “I love and only love the fairer sex and thus believed by them in turn, my heart retreats from any love but theirs.” Her diaries give a full depiction of her search for love. Though she travelled great distances in her search, she finally found her life partner in Ann Walker, also of Halifax.

Members of the modern-day LGBTQ community have found her courage, resilience and full belief that God had created her exactly as He planned both inspiring and comforting. Anne Lister has become a modern-day icon through the writings of Helena Whitbread, the first to decode and publish Anne’s writings in detail, including the most intimate passages. It was Helena Whitbread’s work, followed on by Jill Liddington, that eventually inspired Sally Wainwright to present the story of Anne Lister and Ann Walker to the world in the form of Gentleman Jack.

Diva Destinations Anne Lister / Gentleman Jack Tours

Anne Lister Birthday Weekend (ALBW)

In the Footsteps of Anne Lister Hosted Group Tour - May & October 2020