Her father had arranged that his eldest daughter, Martha, be married to Thomas Kyme. When Anne was 15 years old, Martha died. William decided Anne would take Martha's place in the marriage to Thomas.
Anne was a devout Protestant. She studied the Bible and memorized verses. She was true to her belief for the entirety of her life. Unfortunately, Thomas was a Catholic, which resulted in a brutal marriage between Anne and him. Anne had two children with Thomas before he threw her out for being Protestant. It is alleged that Anne was seeking to divorce him, so this did not upset her.
Upon being thrown out, Anne moved to London. Here she met other Protestants and studied the Bible. Anne stuck to her maiden name Askew, rather than her husband's name. While in London, Anne became a "gospeller" or a preacher.
In March 1545, Thomas had Anne arrested. She was brought back to Lincolnshire, where Thomas demanded that she stay. The order was short lived; she escaped and returned to London to continue preaching. In 1546 she was arrested again, but released.
In May 1546, she was arrested again, and tortured in the Tower of London. (She is the only woman recorded to have been tortured there.) She was ordered to name like-minded women, but refused. The torturers, Lord Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley and Sir Richard Rich, used the rack, which stretches the victim by the limbs eventually causing dislocation of wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, shoulders and hips. Anne refused to renounce her beliefs. On 18 June 1546, Anne was convicted of heresy, and was condemned to be burned at the stake.
On 16 July 1546 Askew was martyred in Smithfield, London. Due to the torture she had endured, Anne had to be carried to the stake on a chair. She burned to death, along with three other Protestants, John Lassells, John Hemley ('a priest') and John Hadlam ('a tailor').