New Year's Honours: Historian who uncovered 'Gentleman Jack' diaries and Calderdale A and E life-saver honoured by The King

King Charles has chosen them to receive MBEs in his New Year Honours list – his first since becoming monarch.

Among them is Helena Whitbread, the historian from Elland who decoded Anne Lister’s diaries.

Her painstaking work revealed for the first time the contents of the Halifax heroine’s journals, which had before been hidden for more than 100 years.

Helena grew up in Halifax and was forced to leave school at 13 because of ill-health. She returned to education later and, after graduating from university at the age of 52, began looking for a research project.

An inquiry into Anne Lister’s letters led to her discovering the diaries and the “crypthand” code that filled a large amount of the journals.

After much meticulous decoding, she was able to uncover their contents and share Anne’s story – which inspired Sally Wainwright’s hugely popular TV show Gentleman Jack and has attracted visitors from around the globe to Calderdale.

She has been given her MBE for services to history and literature.

Also on the list is Emergency Medicine Consultant at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Professor Andy Lockey.

The consultant in emergency medicine, who is also President of the Resuscitation Council UK, will receive an MBE for services to resuscitation training.

Alongside his work for the trust, Professor Lockey has led the Resuscitation Council UK’s ‘Restart a Heart’ initiative since its inception in 2016.