Eliza Raine
Dear Friends,
In the churchyard of St Thomas's stands an unassuming gravestone to mark the grave of Eliza Raine. She was the first girlfriend of Anne Lister, of 'Gentleman Jack' fame. Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Learned By Heart, a fictional telling of Eliza's life, writes: “I wish Anne Lister's first lover was just as famous as her, but Eliza Raine (1791–1860), shamefully mistreated during her long life, has been ignored ever since she died in obscurity.”
Eliza was born in India, the daughter of an English East India Company doctor and an Indian woman. She was only six years old when, tragically, her father died in India. His British relatives decided that young Eliza should move to England, to be educated and 'Englished' – after all, she was to inherit a substantial fortune from her father. Being a young child, Eliza had no say in the matter. She was separated from her mother, whom she never saw again, and shipped to England.
We can only imagine what Eliza's experience of growing up in England must have been like. Despite her financial security, she was an illegitimate 'young lady of colour' (her own words), and ever the outsider. Even more so when she fell in love with a girl, during her teenage years at the Manor School in York. After her relationship with Anne broke down, Eliza started to struggle with ill mental health. Eventually, in the words of Donoghue, "Without a loving family or partner to advocate for her, this mixed-race spinster got stuck in the system, written off as incurably mad."
As a resident of Osbaldwick asylum, Eliza no doubt attended worship at St Thomas's. What would she have made of the church? Would she have heard the stories of Jesus, who always welcomed outsiders?
Today, our churches are radically welcoming places, part of the Inclusive Church network. There is no longer a stigma attached to mental illness or same-sex relationships. We know it hasn't always been like this. Let's never forget Eliza, and the many excluded and forgotten people like her, and actively honour their memory in our community today.
Love and prayers,
