Anne inherited her love of literature from her father, chief Courier reporter and a tenor, and her music from her mother, a skilled pianist. She was their only surviving child. A Leng Gold Medallist in 1934, Anne was a fine contralto (her mother accompanied her) but her singing career was cut short by throat trouble in the early 50s. She was educated at Dundee High School and Glasgow College of Music.

She became principal teacher of music first at Stobswell Junior Secondary Girls’ School in 1949, then St Saviours in 1973, and was also music critic for the Evening Telegraph for over 30 years.

Stobswell girls’ choir was founded by Anne in 1951 and became renowned, winning first prize for Scotland in the BBC Schools competition two years running. When the school closed the choir was changed to ‘Stobswell Ladies Choir’ and was opened to all. It went from strength to strength, singing on radio and at umpteen concerts, its members inspired by her leadership. “When we sang,” one chorister remembered, “it was as if we would never be nearer to heaven until the day we died”. Two members went on to singing careers – Elizabeth Robson, who sang with Glyndebourne Opera, La Scala and other international opera houses, and Joyce McDonald, who went on to Sadler’s Wells.

Anne never married – the choir she created was her life, a fellowship, and her ‘extended family’, and it disbanded when she died. She was dearly loved by her singers, – a big, generous, humorous woman, with a talent for story telling and a big appetite; after choir practice it’s said she and the others would decamp to the chip shop at the top of Dura Street for re-fuelling. When her choirs performed other music teachers would come “just to see how it’s done”. Anne suffered from osteoarthritis, and her friend and singer, Becky Bennett, came to live with her and care for her in her last five years. She died in November 1993, aged 72.