As a big fan of Happy Valley(opens in a new tab), I recently visited the gorgeous West Yorkshire market town of Hebden Bridge, hoping to see some of the streets where my favourite police drama was filmed. I had forgotten that it is also the the UK's lesbian capital(opens in a new tab), so of course, when I went into its delightful independent bookshop(opens in a new tab), copies of Anne Lister's Secret Diaries were prominently on display.
Anne Lister(opens in a new tab) (1791 - 1840) was from a minor landowning family, and is sometimes known as 'the first modern lesbian'. I had seen the BBC dramatisation of her fascinating life, Gentleman Jack(opens in a new tab), so I was immediately interested. I knew she had a strong personality, eccentric habits, a masculine appearance, and challenged the status-quo, but I didn't know that her diaries were partially written in code to conceal (amongst other things) her homosexuality. I bought a copy and finished it a week later.
The Code Itself
The code itself isn't too interesting. It's a simple character substitution cipher that uses Greek letters and made-up symbols in place of plain English. What is interesting though, is that she alternated between 'plainhand' - normal writing, and 'crypthand' - coded messages. In the Helena Whitbread edition that I read, the crypthand passages are written in italics, clearly differentiating the parts that Anne didn't want unsympathetic eyes to see. Yet more fascinating though, is the story of the diaries themselves, and how they were handled by the people who inherited them.
Quick to crack; Slow to surface
After Anne's death, the diaries remained untouched at her ancestral home, Shibden Hall, for over 50 years, until John Lister - who inherited the estate in the late 19th century - cracked the code with the help of a friend. The friend was so scandalised that he suggested burning the diaries, but John, as a lover of history with more respect for such an important resource, instead decided to publish a homophobe-friendly portion of the diaries in a local newspaper, and then hid the pages behind a panel at his hall, where they would remain until after his death in the 1930s.
Some years before he died, John had become bankrupt, but a philanthropist friend stepped in and purchased the estate, allowing John to remain there until his death, at which point ownership would be transferred to the Borough of Halifax, for use as a public park and museum. As the house was being converted in 1934, an inventory was taken and the diaries were found. A copy of the key to the code was - reluctantly - obtained from John's bigoted friend, and the secret was discovered. The diaries were, however, simply catalogued and indexed - their true nature and significance remained a secret.
The secret code remained private for several more decades, then in 1958 another researcher worked with and reported on the diaries. She too had discovered the truth, but decided to lie about the lesbian content of the cryptic passages, saying they were 'excruciatingly tedious to the modern mind', and of no historical interest. At this point, still only a few scholars and town officials knew the truth.
Helena Whitbread and full disclosure
It wasn't until the mid-1980s that researcher Helena Whitbread discovered the diaries at the Shibden Hall archives. She meticulously transcribed and decoded the entire collection, finally bringing Anne Lister's story into the public view. This was a laborious endeavour, as the handwriting was very small, and the letters cross-written(opens in a new tab) - a common practice in the nineteenth century due to the cost of paper.
Helena Whitbread recognised the historical importance of the diaries and ensured they were shared with the world. Her work deciphering the diaries and understand the historical context make her book a significant contribution to LGBTQ+ history, offering us a rare and unfiltered glimpse into the mind of a historical homosexual.
Code as a shield
Whatever the diaries reveal about Anne's psychology (She wanted to live with a female partner and spend quality time with her! Scandalous!!) they say a lot more about the unaccepting society she lived in. The content she chose to conceal exposes the harsh realities of her life as a lesbian in a time when homosexuality was socially unacceptable. She couldn't be openly gay, so her code functioned as a shield, allowing her to access to the therapeutic power of writing while protecting herself from persecution. This dispels the misconception that I had previously held, that female homosexuality was historically more tolerated than its male counterpart. The myth that Queen Victoria didn't explicitly criminalise lesbian sex because she didn't believe it occurred is not true(opens in a new tab). Lesbians were, in fact, persecuted since at least the end of the 17th century, and societal pressures were indeed suffocating, as the diaries so plainly attest.
What if she didn't write in code?
I couldn't help but think: what would happen if Anne had simply written freely about her true desires? Would the pages have been preserved? Would John Lister have been happy to simply hide them behind a panel or would have feared that his reputation would be at stake if they got into the wrong hands? Would he still have published excerpts in the newspaper? I'm tempted to think they might simply have been burned. We might know nothing at all about Anne Lister's thoughts and feelings had she not devised her secret cipher.
Beyond its historical significance, Anne Lister's coded diary serves as a testament to the enduring human desire for love and self-expression, whatever the constraints of the day. It's a fascinating book, for so many reasons. Anne was an inspiring character who wasn't afraid to go against the grain a little, but still she couldn't live a truly authentic life.
Helena Whitbread's edition of Anne Lister's letters is packed full of insights into the social and historical context in which Anne lived, and the diaries are a powerful story of a determined woman using her wits to navigate the rigid societal constraints of her time.
