Happy Sunday! Final day of @MuseumBuddy collaboration between @ShibdenHall @BankfieldMuseum and I exploring LGBTQ connections in heritage...let's wind down with one last little thread about Anne Lister, a wedding and places of pilgrimage in queer heritage! A bit of hope and joy!

Anne Lister married Ann Walker in a wedding ceremony at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York in 1834. The fact it did not have legal recognition did not prevent them from celebrating their love - defining what marriage meant to them in a world intent on erasing their sexuality

It's worth saying that this union is the first wedding ceremony between two women *we know of* because in reality, many women throughout history must have found ways of celebrating their union, whether via a wedding or their own meaningful way, defying the norms of their time

The practice of "Boston marriages" in the 19th century, specifically in New England, defines formalized "life partnerships" between two women but would not have neccessarily involved a ceremony. These were seen as platonic, non-sexual relationships...just gals being pals!

The presence of a "Boston marriage" like situation could also be defined by the lack of a legal marriage - with the Ladies of Llangollen Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby we've looked at earlier this week escaping Ireland to settle together in Wales, living together from 1780...

We've seen that Anne was directly aware of Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby - and wrote about meeting Sarah, in 1823. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine she found comfort in the idea of two women being able to live together, committed to each other forever.

Throughout Anne's diaries she is very much after Ann's money and the hope of a stable situation...despite ending up catching some feelings on her end. As we've noted before...Anne is a pretty complex personality and definitely not an ideal one but all the more interesting for it!

“I really did feel rather in love with her in the hut, & as we returned. I shall pay due court for the next few months – & after all, I really think I can make her happy & myself too. […] How strange the fate of things! If after all, my companion for life should be Miss Walker.”

And after two years of courting they do a 19th century lesbian U-Haul. 10 February 1834: “she agreed it was understood that she was to consider herself as having nobody to please, & being under no authority, but mine. She is to give me a ring & I her one in token of our union”.

Then they well...grubbled. A LOT. An unsexier term then many euphemisms for lesbian sex, but a lot more entertaining! 12 February 1834: "Long capital grubbling so that little time for sleep. She is to give me a ring and I her one in token of our union as confirmed on Monday."

We know Anne ends up giving Ann an onyx black ring. This also happens, 27 February: "I asked her to buy the gold wedding ring I wore and lent her six pence to pay me for it..." (what a romantic!)

"...She would not give it me immediately but wore it till we entered the village of Langton and then put it on my left third finger in token of our union, which is now understood to be confirmed forever tho little or nothing was said."

Then, 30th March 1834, it happens: “…At Goodramgate church at 1-35. Miss Walker and I… stayed for the sacrament…The first time I ever joined Miss W- in my prayers – I had prayed that our union may be happy – she had not thought of doing as much for me.”

The ceremony itself was Anne and Ann officially exchanging rings, vows as well as taking the Communion together. No priest involved, but a symbolic gesture Anne seemed very intent upon to cement their marriage's sanctity in their own eyes...

Funnily enough, Anne would have already exchanged vows and rings with her first love Eliza Raine, as well as her lover Mariana Belcome not once or twice but FOUR times. But by 1834 and Mariana being married to a man, it's safe to say she considered the previous unions void...

And as we know, Anne and Ann's union did extend past symbolic ceremony into legal matters via their wills - both modified to include each other and kept at the @UkNatArchives . More on that in this great article by @vicky_ig here! https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/gentleman-jack-anne-lister-the-first-modern-lesbian/

Anne's specified that Ann would be disinherited if she married ‘… as if the said Ann Walker should have then departed this life’...also a way of confirming their own wedding in between the lines.

Now, there is a rainbow plaque at Holy Trinity Church in York, revealed in 2018.

The first plaque had read "gender non-conforming entrepreneur" and was changed amidst concerns that Anne's sexuality was not being made visible - you'll notice that the wording about her union was also modified, with a slightly more specific phrasing in the new plaque

The plaque was produced in partnership with York Civic Trust, York LGBT Forum and The Churches Conservation Trust. It was also the very first permanent rainbow plaque in the UK

Co-organiser of #RainbowPlaques and former lead coordinator of @yorklgbthistory @krheyam : "When we started creating cardboard rainbow plaques to celebrate LGBT History Month in Feb 2015, Anne Lister was one of the first names to come up..."

"...and the local LGBT community was adamant that she and her commitment to Ann Walker deserved a permanent memorial." This plaque and the following discussion and change of its wording show Anne's legacy today - the importance of such sites being marked as part of queer heritage

The places Anne Lister has visited and lived in, the places in which she became a part of queer history, hold enduring importance for members of the LGBTQI community as we uphold the simple truth that we have always existed, we have always loved, and always deserved to thrive.

Many of us have visited these places - as pilgrimage, as tribute, and maybe to feel connected to the history of queerness decoded, saved from erasure and destruction. These are places that remain alive as living heritage creating community, hope and resilience.

So share your pictures of your queer pilgrimages - to @ShibdenHall , Holy Trinity Church and beyond! If you could go anywhere to feel connected to queer heritage...where would you go?

I for one, think I now owe @ShibdenHall a little visit of my own...