Biography
Anne Line
About Anne Line
Anne Line’s early identity requires care. Martin Dodwell’s research supports identifying her with Alice Higham, who married Roger Line in 1583, and places her likely childhood home near Maldon in Essex. This challenges the familiar Dunmow account. His findings are historical conclusions from documentary research, rather than a surviving baptism record; her birth date and birthplace remain uncertain.
John Gerard knew her as a Catholic widow whose husband had died in Belgium. He entrusted her with a London refuge for priests, where she managed money, guests and inquiries. His account remembers charity and discretion despite frequent illness. After his escape from prison, she continued sheltering priests elsewhere.
On the feast of the Purification, a crowd attending Mass drew the constables’ attention. Gerard says Francis Page hid and escaped, while Anne was arrested. She was tried on 26 February 1601 and hanged at Tyburn the next day for harbouring a priest.
Gerard’s remembrance is intimate, but its details still need checking. He says several months passed before trial; Dodwell notes that the interval was less than a month. The account preserves her resolve under persecution without making every remembered detail equally secure.
Paul VI canonized her in 1970. Nominis lists a local remembrance on 27 February. A Westminster parish calendar also commemorates her with Margaret Clitherow and Margaret Ward on 30 August. These dates identify different observances.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.