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. ", "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. 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. Although she is often said to be Britains first female serial killer, this is a false claim. Mary Ann first Cotton left home at only 16 years old to work as a nurse, according to Britannica. 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 surviving descendants. First, her sister Margaret died in 1834, only a few months after being born. Richard Quick Mann was a custom and excise man specialising in breweries and has been found in the records and this may be the real name of Mary Ann Cotton's lover. She is believed to have murdered up to 21 people in total. Her mother, Margaret, died after Cotton visited the woman in March 1867. Richard Quick Mann was a custom and excise man specialising in breweries and has been found in the records and this may indeed be the real name of Mary Ann Cotton's alleged lover. One could simply walk down to the corner shop and buy enough arsenic to kill a man a few times over. Rumour gave rise to suspicion and scientific investigation. That man was recorded as "John Quick-Manning," though it's possible that he gave Mary Ann a partially false name. For women of the working class, the sudden death of a husband could easily throw them into devastating poverty with little way out. 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. 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. Their first child Margaret Isabella (Mary Isabella on her baptismal record) was born that November, but she became ill and died in February 1868. 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. She only fell two feet, so the executioner had to push down on her shoulders. Her sister Margaret was born in 1834 but lived only a few months. Mary Ann received a life-insurance payment of 5 10s 6d for Isabella. 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. Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869. 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. 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? Margaret had acted as substitute mother for the remaining children, Frederick Jr. and Charles. The date is March 24th, 1873. 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. Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. 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. 29 July 2015. Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway. He, however, was engaged to another woman and she left Seaham after Nattrasss wedding. Where, where? That is not to say she was entirely innocent, although it does seem very unlikely that she murdered her own mother, who died of hepatitis. 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. 2008 - 2022 INTERESTING.COM, INC. Depiction of Mary Ann Cotton. Doctor William Byers Kilburn, who had attended Charles, had kept samples, and tests showed they contained arsenic. In 1852, at the age of 20, Mary Ann married colliery labourer William Mowbray in Newcastle Upon Tyne register office; they soon moved to Plymouth, Devon. Baby Margaret seems to have been their only child and, according to the 1881 census when they were living in Leasingthorne, she was using the Edwards surname. Ward continued to suffer ill health and died on 20 October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. I must tell you: you are the cause of all my trouble." Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft. In 1872 Nattrass died, leaving his meagre belongings to Mary Ann. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money in respect of her husband's death. As The Northern Echo reports, most believe that this child was probably the eighth of her biological children and one of only a few who would survive an encounter with their mother. Lying in bed with her bones all rotten. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Their child, Mary Isabella, was born that November, but she became ill with stomach pains and died in March 1868. It is said that the prisoner, who is comparatively a young woman, has. Insurance had been taken out on his life and the lives of his sons. An English woman convicted of murdering her children. According to Mary Ann Cotton, Cotton wed Robinson in 1867. The body of the stepson was examined and found to contain arsenic. She was regarded as Britain's Greatest Female Mass Murderer. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on Charles' life still awaited collection. "Mary Ann Cotton, a widow, is in custody at West Auckland, charged with having poisoned her stepson, aged eight years. Mary Ann Cotton's now-inevitable trial was delayed, as it soon became clear to officials that she was pregnant. Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. However, the prosecutions evidence, notably the other arsenic-related deaths, proved insurmountable, and she was convicted and sentenced to death. Mary Anns last remaining daughter, Isabella, also succumbed to gastric fever and Mary Ann received 5 10s 6d in insurance money. It is quite clear that much of south Durham knew her life story, but it is also clear that she was accepted, and even admired, by that community. It includes lines like "Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string./Where, where?/Up in the air.". The couple would go on to have at least eight children, though, by the time they had settled into a home in Hendon, England, in 1856, some had already died of what was termed "gastric fever." I cannot remember what was assumed, but my impression was that she craved the attention she got from taking care of the sick and then as a widow and the children seemed to be a means to ingratiate herself into a family and to take advantage of the grieving father, eventually marrying him and receiving the insurance from his passing. Only two of her children survived her, including this new arrival. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill with hepatitis, so she immediately went to her. She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. By the middle of the nineteenth century, there was almost an epidemic of poisoning so who knows how many murders were committed. BLOOMINGTON Kimberly Ann (Cotton) Smith, 65, of Bloomington went to her heavenly home at 2:53 p.m., on Thursday, January 5, 2023 surrounded by her family. William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England where they had, and lost, three more children. Missedinhistory.com. 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. 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. Things seemed to grow worse for the family after Mowbray took out life insurance policies on himself and their three remaining children. That description fits Mary Ann Cotton very well indeed. Later in 1901, Margaret married Robinson Kell, a miner at the Dean and Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and had his son. They married in September 1870, and Frederick died in December 1871 from the ever-present "gastric fever." The . 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. In March 1870, Margaret died from a mysterious stomach problem which allowed Mary Ann to dig her claws into the Cotton family. [3] He told the police, who arrested Mary Ann and procured exhumation of Charles' body. A month later, when James' baby John died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. In 1867, Mary Ann's stepfather George Stott married his widowed neighbour, Hannah Paley. Mary Ann's first visit after Charles' death was not to the doctor but the insurance office. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: I wont be troubled long. Though he appears to have worked as a skilled laborer who opened new mining shafts, the Robsons were working class. Nonetheless, Mary Ann evaded suspicion (even though she collected more insurance money) and moved on to her next target, the recently widowed James Robinson. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Mary Ann's downfall came when a parish official, Thomas Riley, asked her to help nurse a woman who was ill with smallpox. A mortar shell exploded over his head and no trace was ever found of his body. 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. Plus, it really was everywhere, from the green dye in clothes, to wallpaper, to rat poison. It is believed that he was killed in a railway accident. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. A Gannett Company. Frederick Jr. died in March 1872 and the infant Robert soon after. But more than a dozen close friends and . 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. Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.. Mary Ann Cotton, she's tied up with string. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. 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. She supposedly did it using arsenic, a terrible poison that causes intense gastric pain and results in a rapid decline of health. A more complete version runs: She lies in her bed With eyes wide open. She persuaded him to move his family closer, and in December 1871, Cotton died of gastric fever. Mary (Robson) Cotton is Notable. In a close-knit community like the Durham coalfield, it would have been impossible for Margaret to escape the notoriety of her birth. 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. They married in Monkwearmouth on 28 August 1865. According to some sources, she left home at age 16 to work as a nurse but returned three years later and became a dressmaker. Low Moorsley (now part of Houghton-le-Spring in the City of Sunderland), Margaret Edith Quick-Manning (Cotton) Kell, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cotton, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NXHY-K2R, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:264G-ZP5, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NFJ3-241, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NXGL-55T, Mary Elizabeth (Ward) Dawson (abt.1829-abt.1904). 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. Though many killers are male, it turns out that women have turned to serial murder as well. 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. Her father died eight years later in a mining accident. In March 1873 her three-day trial began. 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