Ann Shirley was born in Waverley Court, Yorkshire, England on 5th November 1924. She was two years younger than the man who would become her husband; Arthur Shneham, Lord Northbourne, later became the Earl of Shrewsbury. He was thirty when they married. The couple wed on 4th July 1924 and eleven months later, their marriage was proclaimed void by the House of Commons after it was found that Lady Shirley had was procuring financial support for her solicitor, Bernard Crick. Her lover, Bernard Crick was also charged with attempting to hide money from the House of Commons.
Shortly after the dissolution of their marriage Lord Northbourne died in a strange accident on a railway line near Hayle. Ann was devastated and confided in her sister, Hazel Bleasdale, that she intended to leave him and work in an orphanage. Hazel arranged for the young Shrewsbury to come to live with her at the new orphanage as a nanny. He was twenty-one years old when he died.
Ann and Hazel were deeply in love and they managed to remarry in December 1924. However, this was not to last long as the outbreak of the First World War in September of that year changed everything. After the war the couple returned to work and Ann became a nurse while Hazel retired to become a teacher. They were soon to have another son, John.