Anne Dudley Bradstreet is recognized as the first woman poet in America. That first year in Massachusetts, none of the Puritans could have imagined such an outcome. Arbella, her husband, and others died of the hardships. Many of the settlers returned to England. Gradually, however, a new Boston was established.
Anne and Simon began a family and eventually had eight children, four girls and four boys. Anne managed to develop her skill as a poet while bringing up the children in the wilderness. She wrote of the happiness of her marriage, how much she missed Simon when he was away, and of the children. She was one of the first women to write so intimately about her life. She also wrote poems about historical events and women in history. Simon probably enjoyed these, but the language of almost four hundred years ago makes the poems difficult for today’s reader. In this story I haven’t used the archaic language of that time, but kept some of its formality.
John Winthrop was discovered in dishonest behavior and was forced to resign as governor. Winthrop had been appointed, not elected, and now an election was held. Anne’s father became the first elected governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Later, Simon was also elected governor of Massachusetts, served twice, and played a major role in the development of the colony. Some said that if he had still been governor, the witch trials in Salem would never have happened. You can read about this time in The Book of Maggie Bradstreet, a novel I wrote about Anne’s granddaughter at the time of the witch trials.
Anne and her sister Mercy became close later in life, as their husbands were friends, and the two families settled the town of Andover together. It was Mercy’s husband who took Anne’s poems to England to get them published.
Sarah remained a rebel. She began preaching, and she might have been thrown out of the colony if her husband hadn’t taken her back to England. He wrote back to her father, claiming that Sarah was adulterous and had given him a disease.
Sarah came home to Boston in the Colonies, and with a great deal of difficulty, her father arranged a divorce for her. Puritans were opposed to divorce under almost any circumstances. Sarah began having relationships with men and started preaching on street corners again. Her father found another husband for her, but Sarah was excommunicated from the church for “odious, lewd, and scandalous, unclean behavior.”
She died at thirty-nine, poor and alone. Was she really so wicked? What might have happened to her in a more religiously tolerant environment, or one which allowed women more freedom?
Anne’s health was never good, but she survived many illnesses. She died at fifty-nine, of a chronic disease that caused her to become thin and weak. It might have been tuberculosis, or perhaps cancer, we don’t know. Simon lived many years afterwards.
THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR LIVES
Most of what we know about Anne Dudley Bradstreet comes from her poems and writings, and she wrote only briefly, in a notebook scribbled over by a child, about her early life. She said that by age six or seven she was reading the Bible and trying to be good. She was sickly as a girl, perhaps with malaria from the fens, which was common from the fifteenth century on in that part of England. Others have suggested a rheumatic heart.
At fourteen, she became aware of her “carnal” feelings, allowed the “follies of youth” to take hold of her, and felt “loose from God.” She developed smallpox shortly after this time. Three years later she was married to Simon Bradstreet and was traveling to the New World on the Arbella. She wrote that when she saw the coast of New England her stomach rose within her.
John Winthrop writes in his diary that Anne’s father was hot-headed and stingy, characteristics that led the Massachusetts Bay Colony investors to reject him, initially, as governor and to appoint Winthrop instead.
Her father did brag about noble ancestors, and one biographer speculates that the ancestor was George Dudley, the adventurer who was a spy at age fifteen and became one of the Knights of Malta. Anne’s poem about her father shows real affection and a close relationship with him, in spite of his character flaws. She writes about her mother in a more distant manner, describing her as a good Puritan and a good manager of the household.
We know the details about the trip to America on the Arbella from John Winthrop’s diary. There was a storm, and the Puritans did throw all the bedding overboard when they feared pirates.
Smallpox was a plague at that time, and there was no real treatment or understanding of how it spread. Heat was prescribed by some doctors. We don’t know if Anne was left with pockmarks. Smallpox takes some time to incubate, so she would not have caught it from Davey’s wife’s clothes, but probably from the market in Boston or from somebody in the castle.
HISTORY OF THE TIMES
In 1623, the English heir to the throne, Charles, had indeed crossed Europe in disguise to woo a Spanish princess, who refused him. The Spanish demanded that Charles become Catholic, which Charles knew would cause war in England, so that negotiations failed. In 1625, however, right before he ascended to the throne and without Parliament’s permission, he did marry a Catholic, a French princess whom he met on the trip across Europe.
Partially because of his rejection, England declared war against Spain. Charles levied a major tax to provide money for this war, highly unpopular with the people. Charles disbanded Parliament because it refused to agree to taxation for the war. The King could declare war, but the Parliament had to provide the money to carry out the war. This is similar to the balance of power that exists under the U.S. constitution. The county of Lincolnshire, where our story is located, was particularly rebellious about the payment for the war.
As described in the story, the Earl of Lincoln was summoned to court and thrown into the Tower of London, in 1627, for not paying the tax. Five of those who were similarly imprisoned appealed that it was not legal to hold them without a trial: habeas corpus.
The Five Knights lost their appeal, but the King was later forced to agree to a bill from Parliament, the Petition of Right, that granted rights including habeas corpus to the people. The fact that the King was perceived to be overstepping his legal bounds was a major factor in the civil war that followed in England.
The other factor in the civil war was the religious one. King Charles was, in name, Protestant, but perhaps partly because of his marriage to the French princess, he leaned toward Catholicism. Many Catholic customs were kept at court, Church of England services became more Catholic, and Puritans were increasingly oppressed and increasingly rebellious. They were primarily responsible for England’s civil war, which broke out fifteen years after our story. The Massachusetts Puritans did not want civil war, however, and both Mercy’s husband and Simon went to England to make sure the King understood their position.
Each of the three religions — Catholic, Protestant Church of England, and Puritan — was intolerant of the others, although individuals, perhaps like Simon Bradstreet, might have held more accepting views. While the Puritans came to the New World to escape persecution in England and for the freedom to worship, they did not grant that freedom to others. They persecuted Quakers, and exiled those who didn’t believe as they did. We are so accustomed to thinking that America was founded on principles of religious freedom that it is hard for us to recognize the intolerance of the Puritans.
The Dudley family, as described in the story, was forced to leave England because they would not pay the King’s tax for the war, and because they were accused of harboring John Holland, who had circulated incitements to others not to pay the tax.
DATES
I have tried to be accurate about the sequence of events, but I have taken some liberty with dates. For instance, the earl was imprisoned in March, not May, 1627. We don’t know Anne’s actual birthdate, so her age is a guess. Anne is thought to have been fifteen in 1627. Many dates recorded in the period were vague, and two different calendars were in use, each a year apart.
WHAT REMAINS
If you visit the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England, you will find the huge church
the Dudley family attended next to the market square, just as in the story. Supposedly Boston got its name from the church, St. Botolph’s. Reverend Cotton’s cherry pulpit still stands in the center of the church. (The famous American Puritan, Cotton Mather, was named for Reverend Cotton.) Today there are pews throughout the church and the congregation doesn’t stand. There is a modern stained glass window in the church, which is an artist’s imagined portrait of Anne.
Markets are still held today in the square. Photographs from the nineteenth century show the square so crammed with livestock it would have been impossible to move.
Tattershall Castle also remains much as described in the story. Once fallen into ruin, it has been restored to the magnificence of Anne’s time. Its unusual red brick glows in the sun. From the top of the castle one can see the flat ground stretching for miles, with the church in Boston sometimes visible. There are still fens, although most have been drained since the time of the story.
On the mantle of the huge fireplace on the second floor of the castle there is a rabbit with shiny, worn ears among the other stone carvings. There does not now appear to be a secret room, but perhaps it was lost over the years and the renovations.
To My Dear and Loving Husband
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can in no way repay;
The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persever,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
— Anne Bradstreet
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gretchen Gibbs grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, close to Boston, named for the English Boston near where Anne Dudley lived. She obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Harvard University, which recently dedicated the Anne Dudley Bradstreet gate in Anne’s honor. As a psychologist Gretchen taught, practiced, and conducted research for many years, and published books and articles in psychology as well as short stories, memoir, and poetry. Anne of the Fens is her second novel. The Book of Maggie Bradstreet was her first, written about Anne’s granddaughter during the 1692 witch trials. Gretchen is descended from both Maggie and Anne.
MORE IN THE SERIES
• The Bradstreet Chronicles •
If you enjoyed this book get The Book of Maggie Bradstreet now!
Praise for The Book of Maggie Bradstreet
“In a world of darkness, of witches and devils and spectral evidence, our eyes catch a glint of light: the wry and indomitable Maggie Bradstreet. As we enter her reality from the inside out, we, like Maggie, wonder if the end of the world is at hand. The novel is a young woman’s story, but also the story of anyone who has ever tried to fathom the mysteries of the human heart.”
—Rebecca McClanahan, author of Word Painting and The Riddle Song
“Gretchen Gibbs brings Puritan New England to life. Too gutsy for her own time, Maggie is a girl today’s readers will understand. The novel is a page-turner largecap part mystery, part romance, part coming-of-age story. Struggling against witchcraft hysteria, Maggie is a bewitching heroine.”
—Mary Makofske, author of Traction
“Gretchen Gibbs has written a book so tender and fresh that the voice gets inside your head. Its dark brilliance gives this debut novel the rare quality of making the heroine exist now and also in another time. Maggie Bradstreet pulls you into a very real yet incomprehensible world of spells and fear.”
—Judy Pedersen, author of When Night Time Comes Near
“I was totally absorbed in this novel! The writing absolutely catches the voice of a young girl trying to understand the horrible events around her, and the story itself — even for those of us who know something of the witchcraft trials — was mesmerizing. I was brought to tears at times. The characters were all beautifully developed. It’s an ageless story of people believing lies and getting caught up in mass hysteria, relevant as well today.”
—Donna Spector, author of The Candle of God
“The story of the storm of witchcraft accusation that occurred at Andover during the Salem witch trials is insightfully told here by a descendant of the Bradstreets, a respected Massachusetts family whose solid standing in the community was not enough to protect them from a theocracy built upon fear.”
—Kathy-Ann Becker, author of Silencing the Women: The Witch Trials of Mary Bliss Parsons
“Early American Puritanism was vexed with religious intolerance, ignorance and fear. Maggie Bradstreet is a child who questions her elders and their politics. Her loyal friendships lead her and her readers to hell and back as she witnesses the eerie witch hunts of Andover, MA. Just when we feel we cannot read on any longer, curiosity gets the best of us and we learn that the most painful part of the story brings an epiphany that restores unity to the small town. Thank God for strong-minded souls like Maggie Bradstreet. And may Tobey’s memory be honored forever too! Gretchen Gibbs’s research and sensitivity culminate in a stunning novel.”
—Donna Reis, author of No Passing Zone and Certain
Praise for Anne of the Fens
“It’s heart-stopping to find a man living in secret inside the castle you call home. That’s what happens to fifteen-year old Anne Dudley, a Puritan girl, who longs for her own Romeo and Juliet story. Fancying she has feelings for the rebel, she helps him escape from the sheriff’s men, only to find the romantic escapade she dreamed of become a dangerous adventure of life and death. Gibbs weaves a story of a young girl coping with adult feelings and questioning her religious beliefs. Her whole family suffers the consequence of her actions, including the man she loves. Anne of the Fens takes the reader on a historical journey from the marshes of England to the wilds of a new land.”
—Gayle C. Krause, author of the award nominated YA novel, Ratgirl: Song of the Viper
“With wit and an eye to sumptuous detail, Gretchen Gibbs catapults us into 1627 England. We’re caught up in Anne’s wild adventures as she struggles to keep rebellious John Holland out of prison in the dismal Tower of London. This is a terrific book, and Anne’s story is both romantic and harrowing. From its opening scene at Lincolnshire’s Boston fair, where the reader can smell the livestock and feel the sting of greasy smoke — to its unpredictable end — I couldn’t put it down.”
—Donna Reis, author of No Passing Zone and Certain
“Anne Dudley is a fifteen year old who has very little experience when it comes to trouble — that’s more her sister Sarah’s issue. Raised as a Puritan, Anne knows it is wicked to lie, cheat, steal, and lust after men. Still, she is caught in a world that is anything but Godly and pure. Her religion prohibits the reading of certain books, like Shakespeare. And, on the other side of things, King Charles I is demanding taxes and limiting her family’s freedom because of their religion. Anne of the Fens is based on the historical life of a girl who would grow up to become America’s premiere female poet Anne Bradstreet, who is an ancestor of author Gretchen Gibbs — and the passion for her predecessor in life and letters is clear in Gibbs’ novel. It’s a story set against the dark, threatening landscape of pre-English Civil War, when men and women were hanged or burned alive for their religious beliefs.”
—Jenny Maloney, CriminalElement.com
“Take one part spunky adolescent, two parts woman-to-be, a generous helping of smarts, and you’ve got Gibbs’ extraordinary protagonist. Whether she’s reading forbidden literature or making her way through the dangerous fens, we are right there, rooting for her. We get to see through her eyes what daily life in 17th century England was really like. Anne of the Fens is a breathless ride.”
> —Carole Howard, author of About Face and Deadly Adagio
Anne of the Fens Page 13
