Sunday July 7th 2019

C BBC

It's almost impossible to convey what an effect this series has had on me. Tonight was the final episode, episode 8. I knew it would gallop through the real Anne Lister story as I've read it. But that matters not one bit. Before May 19th 2019 I'd not heard of Anne Lister of Shibden Hall. I watched the first episode, more out of curiosity, rather than a longing to know more. By the end of that 58 minutes I was hooked into this world of 1830's minor landowner, scientist, industrialist, eccentric, passionate (and yes a lesbian) woman. The BBC series which ended tonight was absolutely outstanding. Suranne Jones had brought this woman to life, nearly 200 years after her untimely death. Sophie Rundle as Ann Walker, plays an absolute corker of a supporting role.

But that's not why I'm spellbound. Victorian Society locked women into a 'perfect role' for nearly a century. It was only with the Sufferage Movement and the roaring 1920's that started to break down these roles. Yet, as I've been reading, before Victoriana swept everything away, women (of a certain class in Georgian England) could be free. Yes they had restrictions, and Anne Lister dressed in black and striding about the place like a man was odd. But only odd to a small portion of society (sound familiar today?). She was bright, she was entertaining and she was also ruthless in preserving the traditions she held closely. She was at the very end, and the very beginning of a chapter of English history. She was a woman of her time. She played the game which had to be played. A game she won, otherwise we'd not be writing about her nearly 200 years after her death. I am absolutely fascinated by her, the real Anne Lister of Shibden Hall.