Born in Marylebone, Lister grew up in Sandown on the Isle of Wight and Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He attended Winchester College, then Brasenose College at the University of Oxford and finally Inner Temple, where he qualified as a barrister. Lister was influenced by the Oxford Movement and in 1871 joined the Roman Catholic Church. In 1873, he was elected to Halifax Town Council for the Liberal Party. In 1882, he founded the Catholic Working Men's Association. In his remaining years, Lister focussed on managing his estate and on local history.