Anne Lister's diary for 17-23 September 1824

Introduction

In 1824 Anne was thirty-three. The relationship between herself and Mariana Lawton was now irreparably damaged. Isabella Norcliffe, with her fondness for wine and snuff-taking , was no longer considered by Anne as a suitable life-partner. Casual flirtations had run their course and led nowhere. Anne, increasingly disillusioned with Mariana’s worldly approach to their affair , felt she needed to move on. No longer feeling quite so much emotional responsibility for Mariana and, with a sense of relief at finding herself a free agent, she began to plan her future. She wanted to travel, become a cultured cosmopolitan and, hopefully, find a new, socially elevated life-partner. Paris beckoned and Anne left Shibden Hall on 24th August 1824 with her maid, Elizabeth Wilkes Cordingley and arrived at her Paris guest-house, 24, Place Vendôme, very late on the night of 1st September 1824.

The autumn of 1824 was a politically important time for the French nation. The overthrow of Napoleon in 1814 had placed the Bourbon king, Louis XVIII, brother to the guillotined Louis XVI, on the throne of France. In September 1824 his reign was almost over. When Anne Lister reached Paris, Louis XVIII was dying and another Bourbon brother was waiting in the wings to claim the royal crown. The Comte d’Artois was about to become Charles X of France.

Selected passage

Anne’s ability to bring scenes to life is brilliantly depicted in the passages selected here. The lying-in-state of Louis XVIII; his funeral procession; an account of her visit to the treadmill in London; sauntering along the boulevards in Paris; and, lastly, her impressions of her fellow-guests at 24, Place Vendôme, are all colourful vignettes created by Anne’s skilful pen and her acute powers of observation. From these passages we get a powerful impression of a Paris in mourning for its dead monarch from the point of view of an English traveller who brings a fresh, attentive eye to every detail of the passing pageantry. We are also introduced to Maria Barlow, the young Guernsey widow, with whom Anne conducts a torrid love affair during her stay in Paris. Maria Barlow is Mariana’s first rival for Anne’s love and poses a threat which fills Mariana’s heart with the fear of losing Anne forever.

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