Anne Steele was born to Anne Froude Steele and William Steele in 1716 in Broughton England. Her father was a timber merchant, and was also a Baptist preacher for over 60 years. Anne’s mother, also named Anne, died in childbirth when Anne was just three years of age. Her father married Anne Cator in 1723, when Anne was seven years old. 

Anne lived at Broughton House her whole life. She and her half-sister Mary went to an Anglican boarding school together. They became the best of friends and began to write poetry together. 

Anne was thrown off a horse at age 19. After the accident, her health began to deteriorate. As a result, she became subject to a chronic case of malaria. She became engaged to a young man named Robert Elcomb when she was 21 years of age. But Robert drowned in an accident before the wedding day. She wrote the hymn “Father Whate’er of Earthly Bliss” as a response to this tragic event.

In 1760, a publisher approached Anne about publishing her work. Anne was reluctant to publish her poems. But she did change her mind and published them under the name Theodosia and desired that all the profits go to charity. The first volume of her work was poems and hymns. Later, she published another volume containing psalms and poems. 

Meanwhile, the malaria continued to weaken Anne, leaving her confined to her bed for the last six years of her life. She continued writing poetry and hymns until her death on November 11, 1778. She was buried in Saint Mary’s churchyard, Broughton, Hampshire, England beside her parents.

In 1780 an editor named Caleb Evans republished the two volumes under Anne’s name. He also published, as a third volume of her work, a collection of poems she had written. Her hymns have been published in several hymnals in the 19th and 20th century.