However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. 2008 - 2022 INTERESTING.COM, INC. That description fits Mary Ann Cotton very well indeed. Yet, he preserved a section of the boy's stomach in a jar. One month later, when James' baby died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. This 19th century English woman is one of the earliest confirmed female serial killers in recorded memory. They included Joseph Nattrass, the lover who had added Mary Ann to his will, along with her son Robert and stepson Frederick Cotton, Jr. Nattrass' remains showed that he, too, had been poisoned. 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 Cotton case was the first of several famous poisoning cases he would be involved in during his career, including those of Adelaide Bartlett and Florence Maybrick. Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing, Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. However, she added, I wont be troubled long. After the boy died, the official notified the police. She was employed in various jobs, including Sunday school. They married in Monkwearmouth on 28 August 1865. 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. 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. First, her sister Margaret died in 1834, only a few months after being born. That is until she grew overconfident and made a remarkable blunder. Facts concerning Mary Ann are difficult to pin down, but this was definitely her eighth child she had several miscarriages and there may have been other children. After George Ward's death and the subsequent insurance payment, Britannica reports, Mary Ann Cotton became a housekeeper for widower James Robinson in 1866. Russell's appointment over Aspinwall led to a question in the House of Commons. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. It appears that, sometime around the birth, he fled town, with some reports indicating that he went so far as to leave the country, while others claim that he reconciled with his wife and lived a relatively quiet existence thereafter. Before their final break, Cotton had attempted to get Robinson to insure both himself and the remaining children. Sarah Chesham killed four people and was executed in 1851; both used arsenic. Mary Ann Robson was born on 31 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. 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. . She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. The couple had five children, four of whom died from gastric fever. Her family describe her as being immensely private, intelligent, warm and kind-hearted, and a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. According to The Northern Echo, Mary Ann soon took up with a manager of the West Auckland Brewery, a man by the name of John Quick-Manning. Nattrass soon followed, though not before he put Mary Ann down as a beneficiary in his will. While some claimed that she was Britains first female serial killer, other women had previously been hanged for poisoning multiple people. Soon after the move her father fell 150 feet (46 m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton Colliery. ", "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=1133232730, 19th-century executions by England and Wales, People convicted of murder by England and Wales, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from December 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Around 21, including 3 of her husbands and 12 children. He threw her out. I must tell you: you are the cause of all my trouble." William died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. 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. Leave a message for others who see this profile. William became a foreman at South Hetton Colliery and then a fireman aboard a steam vessel. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on (the still living) Charles' life still awaited collection. She asked him to take the young boy to a workhouse, but Riley refused unless Mary Ann agreed to enter the workhouse too. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinsons children died. Margaret, her husband, and their baby daughter Clara moved to the United States in 1893, but she then returned to Durham in 1894 as a young widow. The Robson family moved to the village of Murton in Durham when Mary Ann was eight, but tragedy struck in February 1842. In 1852, 20-year-old Mary Ann married colliery labourer William Mowbray at Newcastle Upon Tyne register office; they soon moved to South West England. Mary Ann would go on to kill many of her own children, her husbands, lovers and other family. Ward continued to suffer ill health and died on 20 October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. Campbell Foster argued that it was possible that the chemist had mistakenly used arsenic powder instead of bismuth powder (used to treat diarrhoea), when preparing a bottle for Cotton, because he had been distracted by talking to other people. 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. In 1852 she married William Mowbray, and over the next decade or so, the couple had eight or nine children. He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. An examination of the body revealed arsenic in his stomach, and further exhumations on the bodies of two other Cotton children and Nattrass found traces of the poison. The 1901 census found 28- year-old Margaret and her three children living with her adoptive mother Sarah at the Greyhound Inn, Ferryhill her adoptive father, William, had died aged 54 in 1897, and Sarah was the pub licensee. We meet Mary Ann as a loving wife and mother, newly returned to her native North East of England. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of the public prosecutor. [7] The drama was inspired by the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by David Wilson, a criminologist. Mary Ann Cotton was born in a small village in North England on 31st October 1832, to a miner father who died while Mary was just 8. Daily Mirror. With this baby still in nappies, Joseph disappeared. She enjoyed crafting, hosting ceramics classes for many years, creating scrapbooks of family memories, and making special cards for every occasion. He died in 1872 from gastric fever soon after amending his will in Mary Anns favor. She was coming home to Durham, and to her adoptive parents, pregnant with her third child. This left their widowed mother in a difficult situation. Investigations into her behaviour soon showed a pattern of deaths. Mary Anns trial began two months later, and the defense claimed that the deceased had inhaled arsenic dust from wallpaper dye, a conceivable explanation given that arsenic was then common in many household items. Our female killer of interest was born Mary Ann She was hanged at Durham County Gaol on March 24, 1873, but it was a bungled execution. On March 24, 1873, Mary Ann was hanged in a bungled execution. The scene is the hanging gallery. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Mary Ann Cotton was in Sunderland on October 31, 1832. A brief investigation into the trial and execution of Mary Ann Cotton. There are further versions, slightly more crude, still passed on in school playgrounds in the region, such as: She lies in her coffin with her finger up her bottom. 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. Depiction of Mary Ann Cotton. Sister of Robert Robson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cotton. 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. 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. Mary Ann subsequently worked as a hospital nurse in nearby Sunderland, and in 1865 she married a patient, George Ward. So, by the summer of 1865, Mary Ann, widow Mowbray, had buried her husband William and at least eight, if not nine, of her own children. Then the local newspapers latched on to the story and discovered Mary Ann had moved around northern England and lost three husbands, a lover, a friend, her mother, and 11 children, all of whom had died of stomach fevers. Mary Ann Cotton, she's tied up with string. She came back home three years later, taking up work as a dressmaker. During this time, her 3-year-old daughter died, leaving her with one child out of the nine she had borne. The attending doctor later gave evidence that Ward had been very ill, yet he had been surprised that the man's death was so sudden. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England where they had, and lost, three more children. An army of readers many anonymous, others marshalled by Tim Brown of Ferryhill Local History Society and some relatives have helped put us right. Cotton was no exception. She is believed to have murdered up to 21 people in total. When Mary Ann 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 . The life insurance policies were clearly a motive. [2] [6] The first part of the dramatisation was broadcast on 31 October 2016, the second part was broadcast on 7 November. However, the BBC points out that you're not alone. She went undetected for decades, apparently killing a succession of husbands, children, and stepchildren with arsenic, then a readily available poison. Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. The couple was married in September 1870, but since Mary Ann had not divorced Robinson, it was a bigamous marriage. Why arsenic, though? Cause of death: Hanging, Capital punishment - Mar 24 1873 - Durham, England, Oct 31 1832 - Low Moorsley (now part of Houghton-le-Spring in the City of Sunderland), Michael Robson, Margaret Robson (born Londsale), abella Mowbray, Mary Jane Mowbray, John Robert Mowbray, Margaret Isabella Robinson, George Robinson, Robert Robson Cotton, Mary Jane Mowbray, Circa 1832 - Low Moorsley, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, Mar 24 1873 - Durham Gaol, Durham, County Durham, England, United Kingdom, Frederick Cotton, Charles E Cotton, Robert Cotton, Low Moorsley, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, Deptford, County Durham, England, United Kingdom, Durham Gaol, Durham, County Durham, England, United Kingdom, Durham Gaol, Durham, Durham Unitary Authority, County Durham, England, United Kingdom, Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Fletcher Kell, Birth of Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Fletcher Kell, Durham, Durham Unitary Authority, County Durham , England. 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. 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. In 1871, the new fivesome moved to West Auckland: Mary Ann, Frederick Cotton, his sons Frederick Junior and Charles Edward, and the new baby, Robert Robson. A nursery rhyme concerning Cotton was composed after her hanging on 24 March 1873. Dark Angel, is based on the extraordinary true story of the Victorian poisoner Mary Ann Cotton, played by Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt. Born into a mining family in 1832, Mary Ann grew up in a time when life moved quickly and death was all around. got your result, Mary Ann Cotton Family Tree Check All Members List, Merovingian Family Tree You Should Check It. It is said that the prisoner, who is comparatively a young woman, has. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. Though he appears to have worked as a skilled laborer who opened new mining shafts, the Robsons were working class. Editors' Code of Practice. They married at St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, on 28 August 1865. What should have been a relatively quick end turned into a bungle. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton is a female serial killer. Although her mother started getting better, she also began to complain of stomach pains. He died in October 1866, baffling doctors on his way out. In March 1873 her three-day trial began. The . It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. The attending doctor later gave evidence that Ward had been very ill, yet he had been surprised that his death was so sudden. It is said that the prisoner, who is comparatively a young woman, has had three husbands and 15 children, and that they, as well as two lodgers, died under her roof." THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: I wont be troubled long. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money in respect of her husband's death. Mary Ann Cotton had finally been caught. 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. She was charged with his murder, although the trial was delayed until after the delivery in Durham Gaol on 7 January 1873 of her thirteenth and final child, whom she named Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton. When Riley pushed the doctor, Kilburn re-tested the tissue and found that it was full of arsenic. George Robinson was the other. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. [1] Baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November 1832. One could simply walk down to the corner shop and buy enough arsenic to kill a man a few times over. After three years there, she returned to her mother's home and trained as a dressmaker. Mary Ann was subject to two court hearings, separated by a period of time set aside for her to give birth to her final child. Their child, Mary Isabella, was born that November, but she became ill with stomach pains and died in March 1868. Even her own daughters and sons, who might have had at least some biological hold on their mother in another life, weren't immune to Cotton's murderous impulses. At the beginning of it all, the girl who would become Mary Ann Cotton seemed, frankly, pretty unremarkable. Mary Ann Cotton also had her own nursery rhyme of the same title, sung after her hanging on March 24, 1873. Mary Ann, pregnant again, was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton's death. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please A verdict of "natural causes" was found but on reporting in the paper, someone totalled up Mary Ann's moves around the north of England and revealed the death toll.
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