[The first time that Anne Lister put her thoughts in writing about the possibility of courting Ann Walker, the young heiress who lived at Lidgate in the neighbourhood of Shibden.]

‘… Thought I, as I have several times done of late, shall I try & make up to her?’

[After eighteen months of an on-and-off courtship, Anne was unsure about whether or not there could be a permanent relationship between them.]

‘…Miss W[alker] talks as if she would be glad to take me – then if I say anything decisive she hesitates to. I tell her it is all her money which is in the way. The fact is, she is as she was before [i.e. indecisive], but determined to get away from the Sutherlands and feels the want of me. But [I need to] take someone with more mind and less money. Steph [Belcombe – i.e. Mariana’s brother] is right: she would be a great pother [sic]. [I] have nothing serious to say to her – she wants better manning than I can manage.’

[See also Jill Liddington’s Female Fortune. Rivers Oram Press. 1998. p.85.]