Ann Walker’s relatives, however, were appalled by her moving in. Mrs Priestley, who was in the best position to assess the situation, refused to shake hands with Anne. Ann’s aunt at Cliffe Hill was crosser than ever. How tiresome! Gets upon poor A–’s nerves and undoes all good. Surely she will cease to care for such senseless scolding by and by – all sorts of bitterness against me.4 From old Mrs Rawson, with whom Anne had always got on well, she found out that all the town talking of A–’s coming here – so cruel to leave her aunt – & how did my father like so many families in the house – with her fortune so strange to give up her home and come and live so out of the world. Anne retorted, ‘What could A– and I do better? Both left alone – all of us better – & very comfortable – my aunt, father, sister – everybody pleased – people should know all sides before they judged.’ ‘Yes!’ agreed Mrs R– and seemed satisfied. Miss Cliff-hill [Ann Walker senior] has asked Miss Mary Rawson of Mill-house to go to her – & and she is going next week, it seemed as if to live with her. This was startling news for Ann Walker. She burst into tears. [...] Had seen her – her aunt had spoken as if the girl had merely arrived by accident.5
Ann Walker felt the need to justify her choice to the world, and to her sister Elizabeth in particular. You may probably have heard already that Mary Rawson went to Cliff-hill on the 2nd October, Miss Lister was told (and from good authority), to reside – and at my Aunt’s own proposal. I may only tell you that I have never heard one word of this myself […] my aunt told me of her stay as if it was by mere accident she had come for the day & been left. I am really very glad & thankful that my Aunt had at least got someone… I have often felt uneasy about her – as it was not in my power to do more than I had done. I was the only unmarried Niece who could be with her, and I really did make her the proposal to live with her. [...] She took a fortnight to consider of the proposal and then said she thought ‘old and young people did not suit’. I then fitted up Lidgate (you know, at not a little expense). When I was in Scotland, unknown to me, Miss Lister twice asked her to ask me to live with her, when she repeated the objection she made before; but no word was ever passed upon the subject, nor should I have named it to you or to anyone else, had it not been reported in Halifax that my ‘cruelty in leaving Lidgate’ had obliged her to ask Mary Rawson. No one had a better right or more ample means to please themselves than my Aunt and I think she is quite right having done so; but I think it scarcely fair that people should judge so harshly of me without at least hearing both sides; however necessary I thought it for my Aunt to have someone, I would not force myself upon her.6
To put a stop to the gossip and smooth the waves within the family, Jeremy and Marian Lister paid an official call on Aunt Ann at Cliffe Hill. Ann Walker senior presumably felt honoured by a visit from the aristocratic Listers, intended to bear witness to the warm relations between the Walker and Lister families. A– & I walked afterwards and were very well received & sat there an hour. The very next day, Anne sent Ann’s aunt the pheasant & brace of partridges received from I. Norcliffe (Langton) yesterday.7 But Ann Walker senior would not be bribed that easily. Relations remained tense and Ann could never be sure how she would be received when visiting Cliffe Hill.
Marian, too, was thinking of marrying. For years, her relationship with Aunt Anne’s doctor, Dr Kenny, had unsettled her sister. Now there was a Mr Abbott in her life, a businessman who seemed to be well off, although there were few details to be had about the extent of his fortune. Her sister getting married and having children was a nightmare for Anne Lister. If Marian, now thirty-six, were to have a son, Anne’s absolute rule over the family would be at risk. Would she not then be managing Shibden Hall on behalf of her nephew, the future lord, who would put the estate into the hands of the Abbott family? While Marian warmly welcomed Ann Walker into the family, Anne was trying to thwart Marian’s marriage plans by any means necessary: she flattered her sister, issued open threats to cut her off if she married, talked her father into rejecting the marriage and even took Mr Abbott to task, informing him that Marian had nothing whatsoever to expect from her. She told her sister candidly: No one can deny that I go straight forward in the path nature seems to have set out for us – it is you who step aside.8 The marriage plans came to nothing. Marian went on taking care of their father, who needed help after suffering a minor stroke.
Now that Ann Walker had moved into Shibden Hall, Mariana Lawton wanted to know how things stood and invited Anne to stay over Christmas of 1834. Anne, too, felt the need to clear things up and went to Lawton Hall alone. I led the conversation to A–; said I really liked her, was more than comfortable and that whatever might be said, money had nothing to do with it. M– asked if it was true that she has three thousand a year – I said no, but our fortunes would be about equal and that we should have five thousand a year […] I was thankful things were as they were, for I was determined to have someone and certainly could not have done better. Charlotte said A– was not ladylike and Mrs Milne thought she [Mariana] would not be flattered if she saw her successor – but that I could not do without money. [...] Said I had read her last letter to A–, but she did not understand it – I had told her all that was necessary, but not quite all, that is, not of our connection – nor did anyone know of this or ever would. This seemed to satisfy her.9 They slept in separate beds that night. The next morning, Mariana put Anne to the test. M– came a little before eight and stayed till nine in bed with me – rather in pathetics – she cannot get over her love for me – but I behaved with perfect propriety.10 That said more than words ever could. On top of which, Anne did not want to be infected again; no doctor had been able to cure her but the symptoms had died down since she had stopped sleeping with Mariana.
Anne returned to Shibden Hall a loyal ‘husband’, late at night. A– jumped up & came to me in her dressing gown & cloak, delighted to see me back again – had given me up in despair. Had tea – the 1st thing we did was to laugh aloud at her droll figure & the bustle I had made – explained, sat talking – told her I myself was astonished how little I had thought of M–, either of going or returning – very glad to be back again. They were perhaps never closer than that night. One very good kiss soon after getting into bed and not long after this another not quite so good but very fair.11
By-elections were held in Halifax at the very beginning of the new year, 1835. Anne supported James Stuart Wortley again, donating £50 for his campaign and hoping to have the command of 20 votes.12 Since their landslide defeat across the nation in 1832, the Tories had pushed through addenda to the electoral law that put them at an advantage. Any man was entitled to vote, for example, provided he paid £50 a year in rent. In many places, Tory landowners parcelled their land into £50 rental units to create more voters who they could influence to vote in their favour, as there was no secret ballot. Anne Lister, whose lease-hold properties were not large enough for that method, used a different trick: she raised Charles Howarth’s annual rent on paper to £50, only to lower it by £4 after the election. She let her tenants know she did not want anybody to change his opinion against his conscience for me, but I had made up my mind to take none but blue tenants.
The first seat went once again to the Whig candidate, Charles Wood. The second went to Anne Lister’s candidate, Wortley, with only one ballot’s majority over Edward Protheroe, a Radical. The locals immediately suspected the election had been manipulated; the town was in a sad turmoil – the windows, glass & frames of many of the principal houses, inns, & shops (blues) smashed to atoms – the 2 front doors of the vicarage broken down – Mr Rawson’s carriage (the banker with [whom] Mr Wortley had been staying) completely broken up. The next day, Anne came across a yellow mob of women & boys – asked if I was yellow – they looked capable of pelting me. ‘Nay!’ said I, ‘I’m black – I’m in mourning for all the damage they have done.’ This seemed to amuse them, & I walked quietly & quickly past.13
Two days later, a mysterious marriage announcement appeared in t
he newspaper. Anne and Ann’s steward Washington took coffee with us, and with some humming and ah-ing, pulled out of his pocket today’s Leeds Mercury containing among the marriages of Wednesday last: ‘Same day, at the Parish Church H-x, Captain Tom Lister of Shibden Hall to Miss Ann Walker, late of Lidget, near the same place.’ I smiled and said it was very good – read it aloud to A– who also smiled and then took up the paper and read the skit to my aunt, and on returning the paper to W– begged him to give it to us when he had done with it – he said he would and seemed agreeably surprised to find what was probably meant to annoy, taken so quietly and with such mere amusement – said not a word of it to my father and Marian. Anne was not quite as relaxed as she claimed. Having chosen the forename ‘Tom’ for tomboy and given Anne the rank of captain, the anonymous advertiser clearly intended to expose the two women as a couple. A– did not like the joke – suspects the Briggs – so does my aunt.
Rawson Briggs was the head of the Whigs in Halifax. The victims of this public ridicule thus thought the prank was politically motivated, in conjunction with the still controversial election outcome. Whenever the people of Halifax talked about the corrupt influencing of voters, Anne Lister’s name was mentioned. She thus understood the ad in the Leeds Mercury as an attempt to frighten her. Only two days later, Marian came into A– and me at breakfast this morning with an anonymous letter, posted in Halifax, directed to ‘Captain Lister, Shibden Hall, Halifax’, containing extract from the Leeds Mercury … and concluding, ‘we beg to congratulate the parties on their happy connection.’ Someone wanted to make quite sure Anne and Ann saw the insult. Anne was determined to stay calm, including inwardly. Probably meant to annoy, but, if so, a failure.14 The announcement was also placed in the York Chronicle – a Whig newspaper – whereupon the Halifax Guardian re-ran it on 17 January 1835. Anne and Ann then demanded an apology from the editor, who claimed he did not come from the area and had not recognised the hurtful intent behind the announcement. The three announcements made a public mockery of Anne Lister and Ann Walker in all of West Riding. When Mariana Lawton asked about the matter, Anne played it down with some effort. On discovery of the hoax, a handsome volunteer apology was sent by the Editor of one of the papers; & here the matter ended, for nobody was annoyed, & nobody cared about it.15
That was not even remotely true. Reports circulated here gainst A– and myself – my tricking or getting out of her all she had.16 While the town had previously tolerated Anne Lister’s oddities with a mix of irritation and amusement, Ann Walker moving into Shibden Hall went too far for them. A female couple not hiding themselves away but living together and sitting side by side at church provoked Halifax society. Mrs Waterhouse did not mince words when Anne and Ann called on her; she hoped A– would not learn to walk and be like me – one Miss Lister quite enough – could not do with 2 – one quite enough to move in such an eccentric orbit.17 A month later, Anne received an anonymous letter (3 pages) with promise of another to A–; extreme abuse of me – pity for A–; sure she is unhappy & [the writer] will do all to aid her getting away from me & Shibden.18
Aunt Ann Walker senior at Cliffe Hill also got wind of the rumours; she thought A– had left all she had to me; and so she had, the next thing, to cut A– out [of her own will] for it. That fear was premature, however, as Ann had not yet changed her will in Anne’s favour, despite her promise. A– pleased [her aunt] by saying she had left all to Sackville – nothing yet settled about me, but if A– did not marry, should probably stay with me and we should mutually give each other a life estate in all we could.19
Before Ann Walker could alter her will and freely dispose of her fortune, she had to dissolve her joint assets with her sister Elizabeth. Ann had been keen to do so since her brother-in-law Captain Sutherland had secured the legal rights to his wife’s share. She felt ill-used altogether20 by the Sutherlands, especially as their ideas on how best to manage their joint assets were very different. The Sutherlands, far off in Scotland, demanded harsh measures against tenants whose rent was allegedly overdue, which Ann thought silly and tiresome,21 as she knew the tenants in person. She and her steward Samuel Washington therefore worked on a detailed inventory of the joint assets, which were to be divided into two halves for herself and Captain Sutherland. She discussed the legal issues with her solicitor Jonathan Gray in York, who wrote to Captain Sutherland as Ann’s representative.
Four weeks later, the Sutherlands did agree to the proposal, but Captain Sutherland had taken amiss her having instructed Mr Jonathan Gray to write to him. Angry that he could not dupe Ann as easily as his wife, he charged her with involving him in ruinous law expense – a long rigmarole silly letter.22 Sutherland, who had previously employed a host of lawyers to get Elizabeth’s share transferred to his name, had an idea of who was behind this professional approach. I don’t blame Miss Walker but those who from Interested selfish and wicked motives endeavour to bias her Mind. Anne Lister, so Sutherland thought, had lured his sister-in-law into her home only to get her hands on the Walkers’ account books and property titles. As our Properties and Miss Lister’s join, I cannot help expressing my extreme upset that the Titles should have been for Weeks at Shibden Hall, and which I of course should have decidedly objected to.23 The captain was accusing Anne Lister of nothing less than theft – first of the documents, then of the land.
He therefore reserved the right to inspect the Walkers’ properties, land and business in Halifax before any possible agreement. To lend weight to his demands and dynastic claims, he took along Elizabeth, heavily pregnant with their fifth child, and their eldest son, four-year-old Sackville. They stayed with Ann Walker senior at Cliffe Hill, where Ann also welcomed them. Anne Lister joined them the next day, where a tense silence prevailed. 5 or 6 minutes with A– before anybody else came to me – but she dared scarce speak, as Ann had already argued with Sutherland over the property titles and account books. Anne took care of the atmosphere. I agreeableized & talked much to the S–s, particularly to Captain S–. Mrs A. Walker & A– scarcely uttered. Separately, first Captain Sutherland and then Anne and Ann went to York over the next few days and discussed matters with the solicitor Gray, who managed to settle the division of the estate amicably, despite the parties’ mutual mistrust. The agreement did not bring goodwill and trust back into the estranged family, however. Ann, looking thin and pale & tired, told Anne it is her sister not Captain Sutherland who is awkward. Ann was more upset by the split from her sister than by her brother-in-law’s avarice. She cried all yesterday and was quite poorly but held up as well as she could. Mrs S– on the high horse, and A– stood up against it very well.24 Ironically enough, the conflict led to an improvement in Ann’s relationship with her aunt. Mrs A. Walker in very good sorts with A–, but fatiguée de ces Sutherlands. Anne Lister provided constant support and encouragement; talking all over did her good.25
Captain Sutherland was suspicious of Anne Lister for good reason. Her own business investments were swallowing up more and more money but not paying off. Since the autumn of 1834, workers had been driving a mine, to be called Walker pit in compliment to A–,26 into the earth at the highest point on Anne’s land, close to the natural escarpment to the valley towards Halifax. When coal was extracted from 300-foot-deep horizontal tunnels it was to be transported to Godley Lane via the newly purchased property. The purchase price for the land was due in January 1835 and, although she took out another loan and borrowed money from her father, aunt and sister, Anne could not put together the £3,500 she needed. Ann Walker gave her £1,500 towards it, £1,000 of it nominally as a loan at 4 per cent annual interest.
The conversion of Northgate House into a hotel called for even greater investment. After the last tenant died, Anne had hoped to sell the house, but did not get a high enough offer. She rejected a bid from a man wanting to convert the building to a hotel, simply because he was a Whig supporter. Instead, she began the necessary conversion work herself. I spare no expense in making it as convenient as I can. T
here will be on the ground floor five sitting rooms, besides the bar and casino; on the first floor two sitting rooms connected with bedrooms, twelve bedrooms, bathroom, and three water-closets; on the second floor 30 bedrooms and three water-closets. There will be also two bedrooms over the coachhouse and taproom, and there will besides be rooms over some of the stabling near the house, that will dine and lodge a hundred soldiers (should so many billets ever fall upon the hotel) without the least crowding or inconvenience. There will be stabling for fifty horses and everything else in the two stable courts in proportion. I shall not grow rich upon this pile of building but if I do not lose much by it, and if I get a good tenant, one who will make everybody comfortable, I shall be satisfied.27 In fact, Anne expected a long-term return of ten per cent on her investment, which she estimated at £6,000. She toyed with various names for the new road to her hotel: Gasthaus St, Gasthoss St, Alberg St, Inn St – the street not good enough to be called Adney St.28
The foundation stone for the large guestroom, to be built as an extension to Northgate House, was laid in a ceremony on 26 September 1835. There must have been a hundred people collected round the spot – 2 neatly dressed young ladies, some respectable-looking men and the rest rabble. First of all, Anne and Ann and the builder, Mr Nelson, assembled a time capsule for future generations. Five coins with the king’s head on them were put into a large-mouthed green glass bottle; also an inscription engraved on sheet-lead, rolled up tight. The message read: The first stone of a spacious Casino, which will be annexed to a handsome hotel, to be erected at Halifax, was laid on the 26th day of September AD 1835, in the sixth year of the reign of King William IV, by Miss Ann Walker the younger, of Cliffe Hill, Yorkshire, in the name and at the request of her particular friend, Miss Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, Yorkshire, owner of the property. Ann Walker, who did her part very well, made a speech expressing the hope that the hotel would be well received by the town and the local and further area, and continued, ‘it will do credit to all the individuals concerned in its erection’. Ann deposited the bottle, and eight or ten men lowered down and properly placed over it the foundation stone, to which Ann then gave three right earnest strokes with her mallet. After that came Anne: ‘Mr Nelson, my friend Miss Walker has done me a great honour; and I trust her good wishes will not be in vain,’ adding, ‘may the voice of Discord be never heard within its walls, and may persons of every shade of varying opinion meet together here in amity and in charity; and may none ever go away dissatisfied but such, if there be, whom good cheer and humour can’t please!’ I heard someone of the Crowd say, ‘Very well’; A– and I hurried back into the carriage – 3 cheers were given. After the ceremony, the workers went to Anne’s own Stump Cross Inn for a very good dinner & got so drunk none could look up yesterday [...] All very much pleased – said the Blues were the best – if it had been a yellow, they would have got nothing.29
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