She attended school in Godalming until age 15, in 1912, when she left to start working as a counting house clerk in London's West End.
In 1916, she joined the Army Pay Office as a civilian clerk, earning 16 shillings a week.
Other women working at the office organised to unsuccessfully request a higher salary from the Army Paymaster.
[2] She joined the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries (AWCS) after moving to an engineer's office in 1920.
Anne Godwin was Assistant General Secretary, and edited the union's journal, entitled The Clerk.