Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton is a female serial killer. Though she's been gone for nearly a century and a half, Cotton remains one of the most shocking female killers in modern history. She allegedly poisoned up to 21 people before being executed in 1873. Though many killers are male, it turns out that women have turned to serial murder as well. 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. Regardless of her counterarguments, Mary Ann was still to die. 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. Mary Ann Cotton Shes dead and forgotten, She lies in a grave with her bones all-rotten; Sing, sing, oh, what can we sing, Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string. "Mary Ann Cotton." As Mary Ann Cotton, Dark Angelreported, Mary Ann blamed lax pharmacists for her young stepson's death. First, her sister Margaret died in 1834, only a few months after being born. Mary Ann Cotton ( ne Robson; 31 October 1832 - 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. The lives of William and of their children were insured by the British and Prudential Insurance office and Mary Ann collected a payout of 35 on William's death (equivalent to 3,560 in 2021, about half a year's wages for a manual labourer at the time) and 2 5s for John Robert William. For women of the working class, the sudden death of a husband could easily throw them into devastating poverty with little way out. English serial killer Mary Ann Cotton, born October 31, 1832, and was hanged to death on March 24, 1873, for murdering her stepson Charles Edward Cotton by poisoning him. Reportedly just weeks after her arrival in 1866, one of his five children succumbed to gastric fever. discoveries. As Discover Magazine reports, the great majority of female serial killer appear to murder for money. She asked him to take the young boy to a workhouse, but Riley refused unless Mary Ann agreed to enter the workhouse too. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. 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. 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. . Some substances, like cyanide and strychnine, were also readily available but produced obvious results. Mary Ann Cotton did not confess to a single murder, and while the number of victims is unknown, most sources believed she killed up to 21 people. According to PBS, there's even been a modern two-part television drama, Dark Angel, which premiered on PBS' Masterpiece Theater in 2017. A 19th Century Children's Ryhme was born out of her famed crimes. But in late March 1870 Margaret died from an undetermined stomach ailment, leaving Mary Ann to console the grieving Frederick Sr. Instead, Cotton dropped only two feet and proceeded to choke, still alive. Mary's mother remarried a few years later, but Mary hated her stepfather. But faced with abject poverty and an ailing husband, we see how ruthlessly determined . She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. The scene is the hanging gallery. She named her Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton, partially to target her latest lover as the father of the child. There appears to be no trace of John Quick-Manning in the records of The West Auckland Brewery or The National Archives at Kew. However, he died the following year, and Mary Ann reportedly collected money from another insurance policy. This left their widowed mother in a difficult situation. Mary Ann Robson Cotton (1832-1873) - Find A Grave Mary Cotton was born in North England during the Victorian Period. 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. Perhaps this is what caused the young family, in May 1893, to sail from Liverpool on RMS Umbria to New York for a new life. With this baby still in nappies, Joseph disappeared. Arsenic, however, was more subtle. Her preferred method of killing was poisoning with arsenic. Cotton's undoing came after she tried to have the son of her deceased husband sent to a workhouse. Mary Ann was destitute and barely surviving on the streets, but she was bailed out by her friend, Margaret, who introduced the black widow to her brother, Frederick Cotton. Mary Anns last remaining daughter, Isabella, also succumbed to gastric fever and Mary Ann received 5 10s 6d in insurance money. All three children were buried in the last week of April and first week of May 1867. Their next child, George, was one of the rare few of Cotton's children who would survive her. Mary Ann's first visit after Charles' death was not to the doctor but the insurance office. Mary Ann, pregnant again, was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton's death. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. By . That's likely why she killed her fourth husband. What should have been a relatively quick end turned into a bungle. She was hanged at Durham County Gaol on March 24, 1873, but it was a bungled execution. I also trust their research diligence and on their old site they used to be able to publish their sources so you could follow-up if so inclined. Here's the messed-up truth about this notorious 19th century murderess. Gastric fever also claimed Williams life in 1864 and the lives of two other children soon afterward. All three children were buried in the last two weeks of April 1867. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. 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. 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. Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.. Geni requires JavaScript! She then allegedly told a local official that she could not marry Quick-Manning because of her seven-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. As per Female Serial Killers, the two were married in 1865, shortly after he was discharged from the hospital. Editors' Code of Practice. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Mary is 25 degrees from Margaret Atwood, 28 degrees from Jim Carrey, 27 degrees from Elsie Knott, 26 degrees from Gordon Lightfoot, 30 degrees from Alton Parker, 27 degrees from Beatrice Tillman, 25 degrees from Jenny Trout, 27 degrees from Justin Trudeau, 28 degrees from Edwin Boyd, 24 degrees from Barbara Hanley, 33 degrees from Fanny Rosenfeld and 27 degrees from Cathryn Hondros on our single family tree. That left behind Mary, her stepson Charles Cotton, and Mary Ann's 13 child still growing in her womb. Although her mother started getting better, she also began to complain of stomach pains. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. From above, out of sight of the gallows, members of the Press are gathered. The Cotton case would be the first of several famous poisoning cases he would be involved in during his career, including those of Adelaide Bartlett and Florence Maybrick. She is believed to have murdered up to 21 people in total. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. Her daughter, Clara, 19, was living with Sarah in St Lukes Terrace, Ferryhill. She and her only surviving child, Isabella, had moved back to County Durham. Betty Eccles was suspected of multiple murders and was hanged in 1843. Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.. Lying in bed with her bones all rotten. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. Sarah Chesham killed four people and was executed in 1851; both used arsenic. 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. 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. Mary Ann had cashed in William's life insurance, equivalent to about 1,700 in today's money. A more complete version runs: She lies in her bed With eyes wide open. Mary Ann Robson Cotton, was a serial killer convicted of murdering her mother, 11 of her 13 children, her stepson and 3 of her 4 husbands by arsenic poisoning. 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. By now, she had become pregnant with a child by an excise officer named Richard Quick Mann. The series also featured Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong and Emma Fielding. Up in the air Sellin black puddens a penny a pair. He didnt. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Ann-Cotton, Hartlepool History Team - Biography of Mary Ann Cotton. Daughter of Michael Robson and Margaret Lonsdale Enter a grandparent's name. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. Mary Ann Cotton - Dark Angel: Britain s First Female Serial Kille, Pen & Sword Publishing, 2012. In 1869 Robinson discovered that Mary Ann was stealing from him, and he grew suspicious of her repeated requests that he take out a life insurance policy. One of the more chilling legacies of Cotton's time on Earth is a children's nursery rhyme. SO how guilty was Mary Ann Cotton? 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. According to Mary Ann Cotton, Cotton wed Robinson in 1867. [7] The drama was inspired by the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by David Wilson, a criminologist. Mary Ann Cottons trial, for allegedly murdering her stepson Charles, was delayed for several months so that she could give birth. 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. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. People just can't seem to tear themselves away from the bloody drama of a serial killer, no matter how much many of us try to pretend otherwise. She was found guilty and sentenced to die. Things seemed to grow worse for the family after Mowbray took out life insurance policies on himself and their three remaining children. Then he found that Mary Ann had been forcing his older children to pawn household valuables. Selling black puddings, a penny a pair. Baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November 1832. Someone had either inadvertently or, as some suspect, intentionally miscalculated the drop needed to break her neck and bring death instantaneously. The second, which took place in February 1873, was to center on the deaths of Nattrass, along with those of Robert and Frederick. The life insurance policies were clearly a motive. Rather quickly, she sent the daughter to live with her own mother, Margaret, and set out on her own once again. In 1843, Mary Ann's widowed mother, Margaret (ne Lonsdale) married George Stott, with whom Mary Ann did not get along. Frederick 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. Ward was already in poor health but Mary Ann finished him off, and he died in October 1866. Insurance had been taken out on his life and the lives of his sons. One of her youngest relatives who lives today in London is Carla. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were marriedthough she was still wed to Robinsonand she later gave birth to a son. 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. Margaret died from a mysterious stomach problem which allowed Mary Ann to dig her claws into the Cotton family. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please At 16, Mary Ann left home to become a nurse at the nearby village of South Hetton, in the home of Edward Potter, a manager at Murton colliery. This page was last edited on 12 January 2023, at 20:32. The defence in the case was handled by Thomas Campbell Foster, who argued during the trial that Charles had died from inhaling arsenic used as a dye in the green wallpaper of the Cotton home. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: I wont be troubled long. 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. One of her youngest relatives who lives today in London is Carla. That is until she grew overconfident and made a remarkable blunder. John joined the Green Howards, rose to be a lance corporal, and was killed, on June 11, 1917, at the Battle of Messines, near Ypres. Her father died eight years later in a mining accident. Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing, Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string. She supposedly did it using arsenic, a terrible poison that causes intense gastric pain and results in a rapid decline of health. Some three minutes passed before she finally died. That year both Cottons sister and his youngest child died. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinsons children died. She enjoyed crafting, hosting ceramics classes for many years, creating scrapbooks of family memories, and making special cards for every occasion. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. 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. Explore genealogy for Mary (Cotton) Marshall born 1553 Abbotts Ann, Andover, Hampshire, England died 1625 London, England including ancestors + descendants + 1 photos + 2 genealogist comments + more in the free family tree community. The cause of death recorded on his death certificate is that of English cholera and typhoid. login . Soon after the move her father fell 150 feet (46 m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton Colliery. Mary Ann Cotton. I could be remembering it wrong, though. Plus, it really was everywhere, from the green dye in clothes, to wallpaper, to rat poison. An English woman convicted of murdering her children. . c. 1870. She rekindled the romance and persuaded her new family to move near him. A Gannett Company. Despite all the deaths, there was still no evidence against Mary Ann, and she was completely free from suspicion. 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. When Cotton gave birth to her and Robinson's child, her infant daughter quickly died of "convulsions." Mary was only ever convicted of one murder, the poisoning with arsenic of her 7-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. Yet, he preserved a section of the boy's stomach in a jar. Sing, sing, what can I sing? STREET LIFE: Watt Street, Dean Bank, Ferryhill, on an Edwardian postcard which dates from the time that Mary Ann Cottons daughter was living in the street. Wife of George Ward; William Mowbray; Frederick Cotton and James Robinson He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. Cotton had rather more luck at work, where she came across a patient named George Ward. She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox, John Quick-Manning. Robinson, meanwhile, had become suspicious of his wife's insistence that he insure his life; he discovered that she had run up debts of 60 behind his back and had stolen more than 50 that she was supposed to have put in the bank. [10], Death of Charles Edward Cotton and inquest, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Mary Ann Cotton | Biography, Murders, Trial, & Execution", "Dark Angel: How were Mary Ann Cotton's terrible crimes uncovered? He threw her out. Cotton died in December of that year, from "gastric fever." Where, where? - Mary Ann Cotton, a widow, is in custody at West Auckland, charged with having poisoned her stepson, aged eight years. She complained that the last surviving Cotton boy, Charles Edward, was in the way and asked Riley if he could be committed to the workhouse. Mary Ann Cotton, ne Mary Ann Robson, also known as Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Ward, and Mary Ann Robinson, (born October 31?, 1832, Low Moorsley, Durham county, Englanddied March 24, 1873, Durham county), British nurse and housekeeper who was believed to be Britains most prolific female serial killer. Though many of the people around her hadn't caught on to Mary Ann Cotton's murderous ways by the time her second husband had died, it's now rather obvious to people who have her whole story that she was using arsenic. Yet, according to Female Serial Killers, his cause of death was listed as cholera and typhoid. IN October 1894, Margaret, by now a 21-year-old widow, sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, on RMS Cephalonia, with her two toddlers, Clara and William, back to Liverpool. An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. That description fits Mary Ann Cotton very well indeed. For weeks they have been Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869. William died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. She was later found guilty and executed. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. 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