"Looks a silly arse."
— Annie to Mary, The Thomas Thorne Affair
Annie was a Puritan (strict Protestant) ghost who haunted Button House for some time, she was portrayed by Bridget Christie.
Background[]
History[]
Annie was married to a Puritan man who was rather boring. He didn't like her having opinions or having fun and they didn't seem to get on well. Annie doesn't seem to have believed much in the Puritan ideology and seems to have had a constant desire to have fun, however Puritan society was strict and things like games, sports, the theatre, music and even Christmas were banned. She died in 1711, well after Puritan ideology became less common following the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658.
Death[]
Annie had taken some bread for herself and ate it after her husband lashed out at her and left her to go with his friend. However, Annie died after eating the bread, implying she suffered an allergic reaction or choked to death. She and Mary both appear to have been around the same age.
Annie haunted Button House for at least 100 years and was a 'true friend' to Mary during that time. Annie taught Mary how to voice her opinions (which Annie chose to do a lot after dying as having an opinion was something she was unable to share while alive).
She and Mary spent October 10, 1824 together listening to the series of performances at Higham House and quietly judging them. When she first saw Thomas Thorne she deemed him to look like 'a silly arse' and didn't appear overly impressed by him. She later witnessed Francis Button's manipulation of Thomas and was there when Thomas became a ghost, and she seems to have been sympathetic to him, despite deeming him as a bit stupid.
On the 25th day of an unknown month, at some point around 1837 (according to the Button House Archives), Annie moved on to the afterlife, something Mary refers to as being 'sucked off'.
Appearance[]
Annie was a slender woman with dark hair and dark eyes. She wore traditional Puritan clothing of a black dress, white apron and bonnet tied under her chin.
Personality[]
Very little is known about Annie's personality, although her friendship with Mary suggests that they may have shared many traits. She enjoyed insulting her husband and making fun of him after her death.
Trivia[]
- The fact she insults Thomas when she first sees him suggests she either didn't believe in the Puritan ideology while alive or later cast aside those beliefs and became more forthright and opinionated; possibly thanks to her friendship with Mary, who seems to have been Catholic.
- Despite her husband's strict and hostile manner towards Annie while she was alive, he did seem visibly upset when Annie's corpse was taken away.
- Strangely Annie lived as a Puritan despite dying in 1711 when England would have already restored its monarchy and would no longer have the strict Puritan lifestyle of Oliver Cromwell.
- Her American counterpart is Patience.
- Annie could be an attempt to revisit a character proposed during the development of the show, the ghost of a pious nun who had become opinionated after dying and not ascending to Heaven. This was discarded for Lady Fanny Button.
- She can also be compared with George from the US version, a strict Puritan who abandoned his faith after becoming a ghost.