William joined the Durham Light Infantry and ended up in the London Rifles. Mary Ann received a life-insurance payment of 5 10s 6d for Isabella. During this time, her 3-year-old daughter, the second Margaret Jane, died of typhus fever, leaving her with one child of up to nine she had borne. As Mary Ann Cotton, Dark Angelreported, Mary Ann blamed lax pharmacists for her young stepson's death. William's life was insured by the British and Prudential Insurance office and Mary Ann collected a payout of 35 on his death, equivalent to about half a year's wages for a manual labourer at the time. In a close-knit community like the Durham coalfield, it would have been impossible for Margaret to escape the notoriety of her birth. Though Britain passed the Arsenic Act of 1851 in an attempt to control the distribution of this deadly substance, it's clear that it wasn't all that difficult for Cotton to keep acquiring arsenic in her drive to kill the people around her. Daily Mirror. Her daughter, Clara, 19, was living with Sarah in St Lukes Terrace, Ferryhill. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. Mary Ann first Cotton left home at only 16 years old to work as a nurse, according to Britannica. The Times correspondent reported on 20 March: "After conviction the wretched woman exhibited strong emotion but this gave place in a few hours to her habitual cold, reserved demeanour and while she harbours a strong conviction that the royal clemency will be extended towards her, she staunchly asserts her innocence of the crime that she has been convicted of." A nearby exhibition purported to have a model of Cotton at a coal mine in county Durham, and it's very possible that other cheap "penny shows" would have drawn upon her tale to lure in visitors and their money. It had no taste, no odor, no color, nothing that would alert the potential poison victim to its presence in their food or drink until the substance had already begun to take effect. A sister named Margaret was born in 1834, but died a few short months later. According to the Journal of Social History, working class mothers were especially likely to see their own children sicken and die, even if they weren't intentionally causing the illnesses. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. Mary Ann nursed the baby in her cell one visitor told The Northern Echo how he had encountered Mrs Cotton sitting on a stool close by a good fire, giving the breast to her baby until all avenues of appeal were exhausted. got your result, Mary Ann Cotton Family Tree Check All Members List, Merovingian Family Tree You Should Check It. She took him in as a lodger while also starting a relationship with a man she knew as John Quick-Manning. A mortar shell exploded over his head and no trace was ever found of his body. As Nattrass had very few possessions, she was once again in financial difficulty. Riley grew suspicious and alerted the police. He died in a field hospital on November 4 a week before the armistice. A Mr Aspinwall was first considered but the Attorney General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, whose decision it was, chose his friend and protg Charles Russell. All three children were buried in the last two weeks of April 1867. The census revealed that her boys were working underground William was a collier and John was a pony driver. She came back home three years later, taking up work as a dressmaker. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money from her husband's death. An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. In 1843, Mary Ann's widowed mother, Margaret (ne Lonsdale) married George Stott, with whom Mary Ann did not get along. However, in 1870 Mary Ann met another widower, Frederick Cotton, who was the brother of a friend. She apparently complained to a parish official named Thomas Riley that her stepson, Charles Edward Cotton, was preventing her from marrying Quick Mann. This body count puts her third on the list of most kills by a serial killer in Britain. In March 1873 her three-day trial began. Then came the First World War. Mary Ann's daughter Isabella Mowbray was brought back to the Robinson household and soon developed severe stomach pains and died, as did two of Robinson's children, Elizabeth and James. In 1867, Mary Ann's stepfather George Stott married his widowed neighbour, Hannah Paley. According to PBS, there's even been a modern two-part television drama, Dark Angel, which premiered on PBS' Masterpiece Theater in 2017. Belle Gunness was a hard-working Norwegian immigrant to America who took in three foster children (Greig). He didnt. The "great moral drama," as it was described, likely used the bloody true crime tropes so beloved by Victorians to impart a decidedly un-subtle lesson about how to live one's life the right way. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton is a female serial killer. On this date in 1873, prolific poisoner Mary Ann Cotton whom some have tabbed Britain's first serial killer for an arsenic murder spree claiming 21 or so souls hanged at Durham County Gaol. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's In 1869, Robinson discovered that she was stealing from him and reportedly kicked her out. One of the more chilling legacies of Cotton's time on Earth is a children's nursery rhyme. Up in the air Sellin black puddens a penny a pair. Once again, she profited from the insurance policy, but her spree was about to come to an end. Editors' Code of Practice. She was convicted of just the one murder, of her young stepson, but the evidence against her was vague and circumstantial, and it is extremely doubtful that it would stand up in a modern court of law. When the gallows trapdoor opened, Mary Ann Cotton . Soon, Mary became pregnant by him with her thirteenth child. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please [citation needed] The jury retired for 90 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. The scene is the hanging gallery. The ships manifest shows they were bound for Pennsylvania a coalmining area where Joseph presumably planned to find work. Cotton was no exception. According to PBS, there's even been a modern two-part television drama, Dark Angel, which premiered on PBS' Masterpiece Theater in 2017. At the time of her trial, there were reports of four or five of their children dying young while they were living away from County Durham. Mary was born October 31 1832 Mary's sister Margaret was born 1834 Margaret dies June 1834 Mary's brother Robert was born 1835 The family moves to Durham 1841 Her father falls down a mineshaft and dies February 1842 Her mother marries George Stott 1843 Mary leaves home to train as a nurse 1848 Mary comes back home to train as a dressmaker 1851 Her stepson, Frederick Jr., and Robert, her infant son with Frederick, died early 1872. Mary Ann Robson was born on 31 October 1832 at Low Moorsley,[1] County Durham to Margaret, ne Londsdale and Michael Robson, a colliery sinker; and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November. During her 40 year life span she was responsible for the deaths, by poisoning, of 17 people, perhaps even more. Omissions? However, the prosecutions evidence, notably the other arsenic-related deaths, proved insurmountable, and she was convicted and sentenced to death. Only two of her children survived her, including this new arrival. They married in September 1870, and Frederick died in December 1871 from the ever-present "gastric fever." Mary Ann Cotton ( ne Robson; 31 October 1832 - 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. None of these deaths are registered, as although registration was compulsory at the time, the law was not enforced until 1874. By May 1872, Mary Ann Cotton had moved to West Auckland with her last remaining child, stepson Charles Cotton. Few people who lived with Mary Ann Cotton were shown mercy, not least the children who were so unfortunate as to enter her orbit. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Low Moorsley on the south western outskirts of Hetton-le-Hole was the birthplace on October 31, 1832 of Mary Ann Robson (later Mary Ann Cotton) , one of the most notorious figures in the history of murderous crime. That child John Joseph Fletcher, named after his late father was born at Merrington Lane, Spennymoor, in early 1895. It's not entirely clear how the two connected while Cotton was caring for Ward, but there must have been at least some semblance of a spark there. - Mary Ann Cotton, a widow, is in custody at West Auckland, charged with having poisoned her stepson, aged eight years. She returned to Sunderland and took up employment at the Sunderland Infirmary, House of Recovery for the Cure of Contagious Fever, Dispensary and Humane Society. At the end of her life, as she spoke with officials, Cotton did not offer an explanation for any of her murders. The attending doctor later gave evidence that Ward had been very ill, yet he had been surprised that his death was so sudden. The body of the stepson was examined and found to contain arsenic. However, she stayed in Durham and lived in a place called Seaham Harbour. During this time, her 3-year-old daughter died, leaving her with one child out of the nine she had borne. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. Originally, it was believed she had become impregnated by a John Quick-Manning, but there are no records to suggest such a person even existed. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. All three children were buried in the last week of April and first week of May 1867. She asked him to take the young boy to a workhouse, but Riley refused unless Mary Ann agreed to enter the workhouse too. Then came the First World War. Mary's father died in a tragic accident by falling 150 feet down a mine shaft at Murton . During the Victorian era, arsenic was seemingly everywhere, to the point where it became the murderer's poison du jour. Lest you think that works about Cotton fizzled out after the 19th century, look to the myriad of true crime books and drama that still focus on her. A Gannett Company. Product Description. Mary Ann received a life-insurance payment of 5 10s 6d for Isabella. Arsenic, however, was more subtle. After Frederick's death, Nattrass soon became Mary Ann's lodger. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. The Raveness, an English performance poet from Warwickshire, composed a spoken word piece entitled "Of Rope and Arsenic" about Cotton and featured the nursery rhyme on her album. Betty Eccles was suspected of multiple murders and was hanged in 1843. Meet Mary Ann Cotton, "Britain's first female serial killer" and star of ITV's Dark Angel . Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869. At some point William took out a life insurance policy that covered both him and their three surviving children; the others had died from gastric fever, a common ailment that had symptoms similar to arsenic poisoning. The only birth recorded was that of their daughter Margaret Jane, born at St Germans in 1856. ", "ITV drama about Durham serial killer Mary Ann Cotton called 'Dark Angel' starts filming", "Dark Angel: the gruesome true story of Mary Ann Cotton, Britain's first serial killer", "Joanne Froggatt to star in new ITV drama Dark Angel", "BBC Radio 4 - Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley", "All Mine Enemys Whispers The Story of Mary Ann Cotton", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_Ann_Cotton&oldid=1141733042, Around 21, including 3 of her husbands and 12 children. As per History Collection, Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on March 24, 1873. William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England, where William worked as a fireman aboard a steam vessel sailing out of Sunderland, then as a colliery foreman. The doctor testified that there was no other powder on the same shelf in the chemist's shop as the arsenic, only liquid; the chemist himself claimed that there were other powders. Comments have been closed on this article. Mary Ann Cotton ( ne Robson; 31 October 1832 - 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. Riley countered that the boy was a "little healthy fellow," but Charles died on July 12, 1872. Isabella lasted a few weeks until she died of "gastric fever," and she was soon followed by two more of Robinson's children, who succumbed to "continued fever" and yet another case of "gastric fever," according to death records. [7] The drama was inspired by the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by David Wilson, a criminologist. FIRST HUSBAND WILLIAM MOWBRAY Mary was born in October 1832 at Low Moorsley (now part of Houghton-le-Spring in the City of Sunderland) and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November. Although she began a relationship with a man named Joseph Nattrass, she moved once again, this time to Sunderland, after another one of her children died from gastric fever. The author of this book believes she killed 17, based on the fact that their are no birth or death records for children she is supposed to have killed. When she was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton, where she went to a new school and found it difficult to make friends. Mary was baptized November 11, 1832. All three children had been subjects of small life insurance policies. That's likely why she killed her fourth husband. Many seem to act out their crimes in stealthier ways, often using poison and frequently for attention, sympathy, financial security, or some combination of the above. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. Born in October 1832 in County Durham, England, Cotton was the daughter of Michael and Margaret Robson. . Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox. When that failed, within days she told parish officials that Charles Edward Cotton had died. Here she had free access to the drugs supply. Another daughter, also named Margaret Jane, was born in 1861, and a son, John Robert William, was born in 1863, but died the next year from gastric fever. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. This week, I'll delve into her psychology. Someone had either inadvertently or, as some suspect, intentionally miscalculated the drop needed to break her neck and bring death instantaneously. There was also a stage show, The Life and Death of Mary Ann Cotton, that premiered in West Hartlepool not too soon after the real Cotton's execution. She officially died of hepatitis, though she died just over a week after her daughter came to tend to her. Popular cultural sources have called him John Quick-Manning, though there appears to be no trace of a John Quick-Manning in the records of the West Auckland Brewery or the National Archives. The . Both of Mary Ann Cottons grandsons have their names engraved on Ferryhill War Memorial. Yet, the 7-year-old Charles was, to her mind, a serious impediment to her plans. Though, as the Journal of Victorian Culture reports, there was some financial relief available to widows, it was often highly restricted. Without James, Mary Ann was destitute and living on the streets. Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton is a female serial killer. Soon after, Mary Ann learnt that her former lover, Joseph Nattrass, was living 48 kilometres (30mi) away in the County Durham village of West Auckland, and was no longer married. Whether or not he suspected his wife of something worse than fraud isn't clear, but we do know that Robinson refused, saving their lives. Cotton had rather more luck at work, where she came across a patient named George Ward. Another daughter, Isabella, was born in 1858, and Margaret Jane died in 1860. There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. And yet very little is known about her. Female Serial Killers in Social Context reports that Mary Ann's first move was to approach Thomas Riley, a grocer who also happened to be the local assistant manager for the poor relief. The series also featured Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong and Emma Fielding. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. They had a son named Robert in early 1871, but Mary Ann discovered that her former lover, Nattrass, lived just 30 miles away in the village of West Auckland and was no longer married. As per Female Serial Killers, the two were married in 1865, shortly after he was discharged from the hospital. According to the British Library, that's because it was alarmingly easy to access. Neither came home. Selling black puddings, a penny a pair. Her parents were the kind of people that helped out where help were needed. login . Cotton and Mary Ann were bigamously married on 17 September 1870 at St Andrew's, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and their son Robert was born early in 1871. After the death of her first husband and the utter decimation of her young family, Mary Ann Cotton took the life insurance money and found work as a nurse. Mary Ann's first visit after Charles' death was not to the doctor but the insurance office. R > Robson | C > Cotton > Mary Ann (Robson) Cotton, Categories: Serial Killers of the 19th Century | This Day In History March 24 | Murderers | Death by Hanging | Serial Killers | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. In late 1890, 17-year-old Margaret married Joseph Fletcher, a south Durham miner, and in 1892, they had a daughter, Clara, who was born at Windlestone. Mary Cotton was born in North England during the Victorian Period. Neither came home. Cotton and Mary Ann were bigamously married on 17 September 1870 at St Andrew's, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and their son Robert was born early in 1871. The defense in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster. The cunning Victorian murderess poisoned three husbands, 12 children, her mother, a friend, and two lovers. Up in the air. Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the Dark Angel, was a Victorian monster who murdered up to 21 people. The word was that she had killed anything up to 21 of her husbands, lovers, children and stepchildren, and even her own mother making her Britains most prolific mass murderer until Harold Shipman. Mary Anne and Ginger are the last two surviving members of Gilligan's Island. However, the levels of arsenic discovered in Charles' remains were too high to pin it on the wallpaper. After she was finally apprehended in 1872, some estimated that she may have killed as many as 21 people, according to Britannica. Mary Ann Cotton. Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell 150 feet (46m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. Frederick followed his predecessors to the grave in December of that year, from gastric fever." Sql Count Where Value Equals, The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on (the still living) Charles' life still awaited collection. Rumour gave rise to suspicion and scientific investigation. mary ann cotton surviving descendants. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were marriedthough she was still wed to Robinsonand she later gave birth to a son. A mortar shell exploded over his head and no trace was ever found of his body. She was, as The Northern Echo reports, remembered after her 1954 death as "intelligent, warm and kind-hearted." Margaret had acted as substitute mother for the remaining children, Frederick Jr. and Charles, but in late March 1870 she died from an undetermined stomach ailment, leaving Mary Ann to console the grieving Frederick Sr. Margaret died at her home - 66, Church Lane, Ferryhill and left an Estate valued at 740, divided between her daughter CLARA and only surviving son - ROBINSON KELL. Life appeared to be taking an upturn when she married colliery . Though he appears to have worked as a skilled laborer who opened new mining shafts, the Robsons were working class. Mary Ann Cotton killed anywhere between 14 and 25 people with arsenic. Mary Ann was quickly arrested. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. According to Mary Ann Cotton, Cotton wed Robinson in 1867. A nursery rhyme concerning Cotton was composed after her hanging on 24 March 1873. George Robinson was the other. He died in a field hospital on November 4 a week before the armistice. For women of the working class, the sudden death of a husband could easily throw them into devastating poverty with little way out. Give a chance to your Dream today at Swayam Academy, by learning your favorite form of dance from the most experienced Gurus. Though she's been gone for nearly a century and a half, Cotton remains one of the most shocking female killers in modern history. William and John went off to fight. 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