One of her patients at the infirmary was engineer George Ward. 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. Although her father fell down a THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. 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. The 1911 census lists Margaret, Robinson and her three sons living in Watt Street, Dean Bank. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft; she died, not from her neck breaking, but by strangulation caused by the rope being rigged too short, possibly deliberately.[4]. 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. 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. Her death was registered by her son ROBINSON the day after she died. 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. HP10 9TY. After moving frequently, the family settled in Hendon, Durham county, in about 1856. The date is March 24th, 1873. [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? , got your result about mary ann cotton family tree please comment if we missed anything here, please let us know. He died in October 1866, baffling doctors on his way out. Editors' Code of Practice. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Frederick Jr. died in March 1872 and the infant Robert soon after. 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. Then he found that Mary Ann had been forcing his older children to pawn household valuables. Few people who lived with Mary Ann Cotton were shown mercy, not least the children who were so unfortunate as to enter her orbit. She grew a dislike of children while working as a housemaid, and this didn't stop once she had children of her own. The cause of death recorded on his death certificate is that of English cholera and typhoid. Their child, Mary Isabella, was born that November, but she became ill with stomach pains and died in March 1868. 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. Cotton had been remanded in custody since her arrest in July 1872, first in Bishop Auckland before being taken to Durham county gaol as preparations got underway to exhume bodies of her alleged. Mary Ann grew up in Durham county, northeastern England. She only fell two feet, so the executioner had to push down on her shoulders. Mary Ann Cotton, also known by the surnames Mowbray, Robinson and Ward, was a nurse and housekeeper suspected of poisoning as many as 21 people in 19th-century Britain. Gastric fever also claimed Williams life in 1864 and the lives of two other children soon afterward. She was hanged at Durham Gaol. Despite her sole conviction for murder, she is believed to have been a serial killer who killed many others including 11 of her 13 children and three of her four husbands for their insurance policies. Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869. He threw her out, retaining custody of their son George. Why arsenic, though? Reportedly just weeks after her arrival in 1866, one of his five children succumbed to gastric fever. Her daughter, Clara, 19, was living with Sarah in St Lukes Terrace, Ferryhill. Some three minutes passed before she finally died. Yet, he preserved a section of the boy's stomach in a jar. Betty Eccles was suspected of multiple murders and was hanged in 1843. 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. For many people in Victorian Britain, being born into a working-class family meant that one's life was often touched by tragedy. Cotton was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. She was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and her trial began in March 1873. By the end of the following year Cotton and two more children had died; again Mary Ann reportedly received an insurance payout. The couple had five children, four of whom died from gastric fever. Meanwhile, Mary Ann had rekindled her old romance with Joseph Nattrass, who had moved nearby. Selling black puddings, a penny a pair. 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. Mary Ann subsequently worked as a hospital nurse in nearby Sunderland, and in 1865 she married a patient, George Ward. All three children had been subjects of small life insurance policies. Margaret had acted as substitute mother for the remaining children, Frederick Jr. and Charles. However, she added, I wont be troubled long. After the boy died, the official notified the police. Doctor William Byers Kilburn, who had attended Charles, had kept samples, and tests showed they contained arsenic. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. In 1843, Mary Ann's widowed mother, Margaret (ne Lonsdale) married George Stott, with whom Mary Ann did not get along. Up in the air Sellin' black puddens a penny a pair. 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 Britain's most prolific female serial killer. Her attorney tried to argue that the boys death came as a result of accidental inhalation of arsenic from the wallpaper. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. As History Collection reports, his wife was paid via yet another life insurance policy and was left with two stepsons. One could simply walk down to the corner shop and buy enough arsenic to kill a man a few times over. In 1867, Mary Ann's stepfather George Stott married his widowed neighbour, Hannah Paley. She sent her remaining child, Isabella, to live with her mother. Depiction of Mary Ann Cotton. 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. Things seemed to grow worse for the family after Mowbray took out life insurance policies on himself and their three remaining children. 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. Frederick followed his predecessors to the grave in December of that year, from gastric fever." 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. In 1872 Nattrass died, leaving his meagre belongings to Mary Ann. Once again, she profited from the insurance policy, but her spree was about to come to an end. Cotton had rather more luck at work, where she came across a patient named George Ward. Death surrounded her from an early age. 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 month later, when James' baby John died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. According to Mary Ann Cotton, her father was a coal miner. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. Perhaps, to Mary Ann Cotton's mind, if she tried to settle down without killing for insurance money, she would be putting herself in a situation where she lacked control and could easily find herself out on the street, as she likely did after James Robinson forced her out of their home. Alternate titles: Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Robinson, Mary Ann Robson, Mary Ann Ward. [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's now-inevitable trial was delayed, as it soon became clear to officials that she was pregnant. All three children were buried in the last two weeks of April 1867. And her killing spree started right here in. Arsenic, however, was more subtle. She was coming home to Durham, and to her adoptive parents, pregnant with her third child. Daily Mirror. Mary Ann Cotton also had her own nursery rhyme of the same title, sung after her hanging on March 24, 1873. After it became clear that young Charles Cotton had died of arsenic poisoning, authorities gave permission for the exhumation of three more of Mary Ann Cotton's alleged victims, the RadioTimes reports. 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. THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were marriedthough she was still wed to Robinsonand she later gave birth to a son. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. Moreover, she was also forcing her stepchildren to pawn household items. Here's the messed-up truth about this notorious 19th century murderess. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money from her husband's death. "Mary Ann Cotton." At the age of 16, she moved out to become a nurse at Edward Potter's home in the nearby village of South Hetton. Mary Ann received a life-insurance payment of 5 10s 6d for Isabella. For weeks they have been That's likely why she killed her fourth husband. He died in 1872 from gastric fever soon after amending his will in Mary Anns favor. 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. By . When Cotton gave birth to her and Robinson's child, her infant daughter quickly died of "convulsions." Sing, sing, oh what should I sing? Mary Ann's daughter Isabella, from the marriage to William Mowbray, was brought back to the Robinson household and soon developed bad stomach pains and died; so did another two of Robinson's children. When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton. Mary Ann Cotton was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and as she awaited trial in Durham Prison, she gave birth to her 13th and last child, Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton, in January 1873. When that failed, within days she told parish officials that Charles Edward Cotton had died. In March 1870, Margaret died from a mysterious stomach problem which allowed Mary Ann to dig her claws into the Cotton family. We told the story in Memories 96, with, as ever, a few inaccuracies. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. She apparently wanted to give Quick-Manning the dubious honor of becoming husband number five. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. The sheer number of children who met their deaths after coming into contact with the murderess exceeded even the juvenile mortality rate of a dangerous time before pediatricians and obstetricians were available to most people in Britain. After her marriage to Robinson crumbled, Cotton was introduced to Frederick Cotton by his sister, Margaret. After her sentencing, Mary Ann Cotton attempted to save herself through various means, from hoping for a pardon to appear to arguing that everyone else in her life had failed her. That is until she grew overconfident and made a remarkable blunder. Sarah Chesham killed four people and was executed in 1851; both used arsenic. But when their son, William, was born a few months after their arrival, his place of birth was listed as Imperial County in California a desert through which canals were being dug to create farmland. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever, and died just after revising his will in Mary Anns favour. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Ann-Cotton, Hartlepool History Team - Biography of Mary Ann Cotton. 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. A nursery rhyme concerning Cotton was composed after her hanging on 24 March 1873. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. Like many of the other dead people in Cotton's wake, Ward presented symptoms that were alarmingly similar to arsenic poisoning. The defense in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster. The so-called fever mimicked the symptoms of arsenic poisoning, a fact which would later prove interesting to investigators. 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. 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. An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. Just one grandparent can lead you to many She got away with it so long because arsenic was extremely hard to detect as symptoms were often confused with those associated with gastric ailments. They married in September 1870, and Frederick died in December 1871 from the ever-present "gastric fever." By the end of the following year Cotton and two more children had died; again Mary Ann reportedly received an insurance payout. With thanks to Vivienne Smith, Durham; Joyce Malcolm, Newton Aycliffe; Alistair Fraser, the Western Front Association; John Dinning and Geoff Wall, the Ferryhill Heritage Centre; Tom Hutchinson, Bishop Auckland; Vi Steventon of Newton Aycliffe; Ian Smyth Herdman of Hartlepool and everybody else who has been in touch. 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 enough, Margaret died of a mysterious gastrointestinal ailment, allowing Mary Ann to get closer to Frederick. Cotton collected another insurance payout and moved on. got your result, Mary Ann Cotton Family Tree Check All Members List, Merovingian Family Tree You Should Check It. Up in the air. There appears to be no trace of John Quick-Manning in the records of The West Auckland Brewery or The National Archives at Kew. 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. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. 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. Lying in bed with her bones all rotten. A 19th Century Children's Ryhme was born out of her famed crimes. The trap door wasnt placed high enough to break her neck. She persuaded him to move his family closer, and in December 1871, Cotton died of gastric fever. Although she is often said to be Britains first female serial killer, this is a false claim. Despite all the deaths, there was still no evidence against Mary Ann, and she was completely free from suspicion. She soon leftor was thrown outand was for a time homeless. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Margaret was born in 1873. Corrections? Another daughter, Isabella, was born in 1858, and Margaret Jane died in 1860. 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. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. 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. This page was last edited on 12 January 2023, at 20:32. Mary Ann was quickly arrested. [8], The Mary Ann Cotton case was partly dramatized on an episode of the 2022 BBC Radio podcast series Lucy Worsley's Lady Killers. Around this time she took up with a former lover, Joseph Nattrass, but later became pregnant by another man, John Quick-Manning. In 1852 she married William Mowbray, and over the next decade or so, the couple had eight or nine children. Soon, Mary became pregnant by him with her thirteenth child. Frederick Jr. died in March 1872 and the infant Robert soon after. She was found guilty and sentenced to die. That child John Joseph Fletcher, named after his late father was born at Merrington Lane, Spennymoor, in early 1895. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. 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. [9], Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten Affair with James Nattress, a married man, while married to Mowbray and possibly again, after Nattress was widowed, while she was "married" to Cotton. In a close-knit community like the Durham coalfield, it would have been impossible for Margaret to escape the notoriety of her birth. Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway. 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 had been expected to bank. While some claimed that she was Britains first female serial killer, other women had previously been hanged for poisoning multiple people. Shortly after her demise, according to The Invention of Murder, Cotton's exploits were used by the Victorians in all manner or moralistic and lurid attractions. He died in a field hospital on November 4 a week before the armistice. It was performed by a notoriously clumsy hangman, and the trap door was not positioned high enough to break her neck, forcing the executioner to press down on her shoulders. Comments have been closed on this article. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton is a female serial killer. She lies in her bed, With her eyes wide open Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing, Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string Where, where? Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. After all of the children had been sent to boarding school in Darlington over the next three years, she returned to her stepfather's home and trained as a dressmaker. She lies in bed with her eyes. Wife of George Ward; William Mowbray; Frederick Cotton and James Robinson The couple was married in September 1870, but since Mary Ann had not divorced Robinson, it was a bigamous marriage. They married in Monkwearmouth on 28 August 1865. 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." ", "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. 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. Death of Charles Edward Cotton and inquest, Mary Ann's downfall came when she was asked by a parish official, Thomas Riley, to help nurse a woman who was ill with smallpox. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. 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. 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. 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. William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England where they had, and lost, three more children. 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. She then allegedly told a local official that she could not marry Quick-Manning because of her seven-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. Insurance had been effected on his life and those of his sons. 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. 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 asked Riley if he could commit Cotton to a workhouse and when that suggestion was rebuffed, she said this to Riley: I wont be troubled long. Enter a grandparent's name. Soon, he found out that she owed 60 and had also stolen 50 she was supposed to put in the bank. The jury retired for 90 minutes before finding Mary Ann guilty. After three years there, she returned to her mother's home and trained as a dressmaker. An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. Mary Ann backed off but not before ominously predicting that Charles would "go like all the rest of the Cotton family." Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Was still legally married to James Robinson, Mary Ann & Mowbray's children: (3 rumored but unsubstantiated children), Mary Jane (-1860), Margaret Jane (-1865), John Robert (-1864), Isabella (-1867), George Ward (-1866), husband (briefly) - already ill and in the hospital when they met and married, 5 children of James Robinson & his late wife, Hannah, Margaret Lonsdale Robson Stott, mother (-1867), Child of Mary Ann & James Robinson: Margaret Isabella (-1868), 4 Children of Frederick & Unknown Cotton: 2 (before 1869) plus Frederick Jr and Charles Edward Cotton (-1872) - for whose murder she was arrested, tried and hung, Child of Mary Ann & Frederick Cotton: Robert Robson Cotton (-1870), Frederick Cotton, Sr, bigamous (she was the bigamist, not him) husband (-1871), Lady Killers, BBC Radio 4, Episode 7: Mary Ann Cotton (more info on. There is some speculation that she may have been pregnant before their marriage and that is why it was held at the registry office. 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. By the time Nattrass was dead, Mary Ann had poisoned Robert, her infant son with Cotton, and Frederick Jr., her stepson. Her funeral service will be at 10:00 . mary ann cotton surviving descendants. Later in 1901, Margaret married Robinson Kell, a miner at the Dean and Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and had his son. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. However, the judge allowed the prosecutor to use evidence from the deaths of Nattrass and two of the Cotton children and ultimately, the overwhelming evidence sealed Mary Anns fate. Mary Ann Cotton (ne Robson; 31 October 1832 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. Both of Mary Ann Cottons grandsons have their names engraved on Ferryhill War Memorial. The mother who murdered her own children was, though, a sensational story, and the media of the day led by The Northern Echos famous editor, WT Stead whipped up feelings against her. In August, Mary Ann married Robinson, and the couple had two children, though only one survived. She apparently complained to a parish official named Thomas Riley that her stepson, Charles Edward Cotton, was preventing her from marrying Quick Mann. login . Her family describe her as being immensely private, intelligent, warm and kind-hearted, and a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. At that stage, only one of the nine kids she had with Mowbray was alive. 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.
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