This week’s hero is: Anne Lister (1791–1840)

Also known as: Anne was also known affectionately as ‘Fred’ to her lover, and – less affectionately – ‘Gentleman Jack’ to her neighbours. She was played by Maxine Peake in the BBC drama The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister aired in early 2010.

Our heroine’s social scene: nineteenth-century Yorkshire high society

Famous for: Anne was a wealthy landowner and successful businesswoman, unusual for the time. She’s most famous, however, for her diary. Anne was a prolific diary writer, detailing her life in a series of diaries totalling over 4 million words.

Part of the diary was written in a secret code. When the uncoded diaries were made public in the 1990s they revealed an extremely candid description of Anne’s romantic and sexual relationships with women. Anne wrote everything down – she even documented every orgasm she had.

Infamous for: In her own lifetime she was infamous for wearing men’s clothes and not hiding her sexuality. In the early twentieth century, when the code of her diaries was first cracked, she was infamous for writing about her love life so openly and unashamedly. Times have changed to the point where the most shocking thing about Anne’s life for modern audiences are her snobbish attitudes and disdain for the working classes.

Reason she’s a heroine: Anne Lister was not Britain’s first lesbian, but she was the first to be documented in history. Her diaries reveal a woman who was comfortable in her own skin and unapologetic for loving other women.

This series is now on hiatus, and may resume in 2011. See the full list of Lesbilicious’ lesbian heroines from history.