Anne Vaux was a wealthy Catholic recusant

Recusancy

In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...

, the third daughter of William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden

William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden

William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden was an English peer, the son of Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden. He succeeded his father as Baron Vaux of Harrowden in October 1556....

 (1535–1595) and his first wife, Elizabeth. She and her sister Eleanor Brooksby supported Catholic priests by renting houses where priests could convene safely. Among these houses was White Webbs in Enfield Chase

Enfield Chase

Enfield Chase is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, North London. It was once covered by woodland and used as a royal deer park. While it is no longer officially a 'place', the Church of England Parish of St Mary Magdalene, Enfield Chase, officially holds that title, which was effectively...

, which was visited by several of the Gunpowder Plotters.

Vaux was particularly devoted to Father Henry Garnet

Henry Garnet

Henry Garnet , sometimes Henry Garnett, was a Jesuit priest executed for his complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Born in Derbyshire, he was educated in Nottingham and later at Winchester College, before moving to London in 1571 to work for a publisher...

, a Jesuit priest who was later executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot

Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...

. She was also related to Francis Tresham

Francis Tresham

Francis Tresham , eldest son of Sir Thomas Tresham and Merial Throckmorton, was a member of the group of English provincial catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I of England...

, one of the plotters. Both Vaux and Tresham have been suspected of being the author of an anonymous letter to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle

William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle

William Parker, 13th Baron Morley, 4th Baron Monteagle was an English peer, Lord of Morley, Hingham, Hockering, &c., in Norfolk, the eldest son of Edward Parker, 12th Baron Morley , and of Elizabeth Stanley, daughter and heiress of William Stanley, 3rd Baron Monteagle .When quite a youth he...

 warning him to avoid Parliament on 5 November 1605, the day that the Gunpowder Plotters intended to blow it up. This letter, which Monteagle gave to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...

, was instrumental in foiling the plot. The identity of the letter's author has never been conclusively determined. The theory that Vaux was the author is largely based on "perceived similarities" between her handwriting and that used in the letter.

Vaux suspected the existence of the Gunpowder Plot, but played no direct role in it. She was arrested shortly after the plot was discovered, but was released on a bond put up by Lewis Pickering. After her release, she tried unsuccessfully to hide Garnet at the home of Thomas Abington

Thomas Abington

Sir Thomas Habington was an English antiquarian, son of John Habington and Catherine Wykes, and the brother of Edward Habington...

 at Hindlip, Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

. He was discovered and arrested on 25 January; Vaux travelled to London, where Garnet was incarcerated in the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

. She attempted to communicate with Garnet through concealed messages on letters given to Garnet's gaoler. The messages were written in orange juice; historian Anstruther argues that their illegibility indicates that Vaux was near-sighted and unaccustomed to writing. The messages were forwarded to Salisbury, and Vaux was arrested in March 1606. Under interrogation, she proclaimed herself innocent of treason but admitted to receiving conspirators at her houses; she was released in August.

Vaux moved to her sister Eleanor's family estate in Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, where she was convicted of recusancy in 1625, and after her sister's death moved to Stanley Grange, Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. She founded a school for boys from Catholic noble families, which the Protestant authorities tried to shut down in 1635. She died in 1637 or later.