Helena Whitbread

Helena Whitbread (born 1931) is an English writer from Halifax, West Yorkshire. She is best known for the decryption and editing of the 19th-century Halifax lesbian landowner Anne Lister's secret coded diaries. She discovered the Lister diaries in the 1980s and spent five years decoding and transcribing the diaries, working on 50 pages each weekend. She is the first researcher to publish the coded passages of the diaries of Anne Lister.

The diaries consist of 27 books, over six thousand pages, and over four million words. The Anne Lister diaries decoded by Whitbread are recognized by The United Nations as a ‘pivotal’ set of documents in British history; in 2011, they were added to the Memory of the World Register. The list is compiled by the UN Cultural Organization UNESCO and the archives are available online as historical UK documents.

During the years Whitbread spent researching Anne Lister's journals, she was employed at a private religious school. Once her manuscript was accepted for publication she advised the school Director that whar she would be publishing would contain graphic content and intimate details of lesbian sexuality. Such was her conviction of the critical sociological relevance of this work that she was prepared for any reaction. Instead Monsignor recognised the importance of the work and the impact it would have; he told Whitbread “you have lit a fuse (for social change).”

Lister's lifestory has been adapted for television in a joint production by HBO and the BBC titled Gentleman Jack, which consisted of two series. The adaptation is based on Whitbread's research, as well as including additional research by Anne Choma and Jill Liddington. The adaptation was conceived, written, and directed by Sally Wainwright and starred actress Suranne Jones.

Whitbread's book The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister was the inspiration for the song played at the end of the aforementioned television series. The song was written by Golcar artists O'Hooley and Tidow.

Whitbread was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to history and literature.