Christine Booth.
Friends of the Rydings were pleased to present a talk on John Lister, last resident of Shibden Hall Halifax, by Chris Booth, local historian.
Christine has been a volunteer at Shibden Hall for the last twelve years. She is very knowledgable on the history of the hall.
We learned that Lister was a philanthropist, providing finances for local charitable works. Among the long list of good works was his gift of land and property to provide a school for troubled young boys. He was a founder member of the Halifax Labour Union and attempted to serve his community as a member of parliament for the area.
It was John Lister who found the Anne Lister diaries and worked to translate them. He kept them at the hall until they were eventually discovered after his death.
Thank you Christine for your informative talk; we learned a lot of fascinating information about our local area.
