The series also featured Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong and Emma Fielding. Mary Ann Cotton was married four times. 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. Her coal miner father fell to his death while she was young, forcing Mary Ann to become a nurse and support her family. She allegedly poisoned up to 21 people before being executed in 1873. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. At the time of her trial, The Northern Echo published an article containing a description of Mary Ann as given by her childhood Wesleyan Sunday school superintendent at Murton, describing her as "a most exemplary and regular attender", "a girl of innocent disposition and average intelligence" and "distinguished for her particularly clean and tidy appearance."[2]. The cause of death recorded on his death certificate is that of English cholera and typhoid. She was vilified in the press most likely because of her station in life (as were more modern judicial victims, the early 1900s' Martha Rendell and the 1980s' Lindy Chamberlain of "the dingo ate my baby" infamy). What was Mary Ann Cotton's fate? Mary’s defence claimed that Charles Edward had inhaled the poison from fly paper, but the jury saw through this and Mary was sentenced to death. An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. According to some sources, she left home at age 16 to work as a nurse but returned three years later and became a dressmaker. [8], Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten These people may be her close friend, children, or husbands. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: “I won’t be troubled long. Mary Ann Cheek Cotton, 88, went to be with her Lord and Savior on October 27, 2020. Mary Ann was desperate and living on the streets. Another daughter, also named Margaret Jane, was born in 1861 and lastly a son, John Robert William, was born in 1863, but died a year later from gastric fever. She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox. Mary Ann Cotton (October 1832 – March 24, 1873) was an English serial killer believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. Dark Angel: Mary Ann Cotton’s Teapot of Death They say poison is a woman’s choice of murder weapon. Is it conceivable that a woman can bear children, nourish children, feed and care for a husband, and then administer arsenic to such an extent as to cause an agonising slow painful … She was charged with his murder, although the trial was delayed until after the delivery in Durham Gaol on 10 January 1873 of her thirteenth and final child, whom she named Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton. A brief investigation into the trial and execution of Mary Ann Cotton. She then allegedly told a local official that she could not marry Quick-Manning because of her seven-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. James Robinson was a shipwright at Pallion in Sunderland, whose wife, Hannah, had recently died. Her father was a … Another daughter, Isabella, was born in 1858, and Margaret Jane died in 1860. Of Mary Ann's 13 children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith (1873–1954) and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson. This was followed by 39 year old Frederick himself on the 20th of September 1871. Mary was born 1832 in a pit village called Wesleyan Faith in County Durham. A Mr. Aspinwall was first considered but the Attorney General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, whose decision it was, chose his friend and protégé Charles Russell. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Several petitions were presented to the Home Secretary, but to no avail. At each town she settles, she always loses someone close to her. Mary Ann Cotton is a major reason why. However, in 1870 Mary Ann met another widower, Frederick Cotton, who was the brother of a friend. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. She soon left—or was thrown out—and was for a time homeless. 40-year-old Mary Ann Cotton was arrested in West Auckland, County Durham, in 1872 after her stepson, Charles Edward Cotton, was found to have been poisoned by arsenic. Mary Ann Robson was born in the small English village of Low Moorsley, County Durham in what is now the City of Sunderland in October 1832. Contrary to what many believe, arsenic does not kill rapidly, but causes long and agonizing gastric pain and distress as it … 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. In 1852, at the age of 20, Mary Ann married colliery labourer William Mowbray at Newcastle Upon Tyne register office; they soon moved to South West England. During this time, her 3½-year-old daughter, (the second) Margaret Jane, died of typhus fever, leaving her with one child of up to nine she had borne. While some claimed that she was Britain’s first female serial killer, other women had previously been hanged for poisoning multiple people. She chiefly used arsenic poisoning, causing gastric pain and rapid decline of health. Mary Ann subsequently worked as a hospital nurse in nearby Sunderland, and in 1865 she married a patient, George Ward. Where, where? Omissions? Here are a few ways everyday life in the Victorian era could kill you. He was not her only victim as it is likely she also murdered a total of twenty one other people, including three of her four husbands, eleven of her thirteen children, … Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869. Mary Ann's daughter Isabella, from the marriage to William 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. She was regarded as Britain's Greatest Female Mass Murderer. Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton.It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies, and many others. She was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and her trial began in March 1873. Image Murderpedia. Russell's appointment over Aspinwall led to a question in the House of Commons. Mary Cotton was born in North England during the Victorian Period. Her sister, Margaret, was born in 1834 but lived only a few months. She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. 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. Trial & Execution. It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies , and many others. Mary Ann Cotton is infamously known as one of the United Kingdoms’ first prolific female serial killers. However, the first hearing led to Mary Ann's conviction for the death of Charles in March of that year. Amy Tikkanen is the general corrections manager, handling a wide range of topics that include Hollywood, politics, books, and anything related to the. Her mother became ill, and Mary Ann went to be with her. She met Frederick Cotton in about 1868 and bigamously married him in September 1870. Mary Ann Cotton had finally been caught. Mary Ann Cotton, née Mary Ann Robson, also known as Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Ward, and Mary Ann Robinson, (born October 31?, 1832, Low Moorsley, Durham county, England—died March 24, 1873, Durham county), British nurse and housekeeper who was believed to be Britain’s most prolific female serial killer. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. She is strongly suspected of 14 or 15 murders, either for gain or to enable her to marry or both, and 21 people who were close to her died over a 20 year period. 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. Fashion Fashion – particularly women’s fashion – was not designed for comfort or practicality. 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]. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Iza’s mother, Mary Ann Ussher, died in 2001, and the cause of her death was initially reported as cancer. All three children were buried in the last week of April and first week of May in 1867. She became known as Britain’s first serial killer. The attending doctor later gave evidence that Ward had been very ill, yet he had been surprised that his death was so sudden. October 9, 1872, letter by Mary Ann Cotton She was, at … By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell 150 feet (46 m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. Mary Ann preferred the use of arsenic poisoning as her murder weapon. The only birth recorded was that of their daughter, Margaret Jane, born at St Germans in 1856. Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. Her attorney tried to argue that the boy’s death came as a result of accidental inhalation of arsenic from the wallpaper. Sing, sing, oh what should I sing? Mary Ann Potthoff Death – Obituary, Funeral, Cause Of Death Mary Ann Potthoff, 83, of Foristell, Missouri, passed away on Friday, March 12, 2021 at SSM St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint … The occupation is also indicated, but, for children, it is replaced with a parent’s name. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. Of Mary Ann’s thirteen children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson. Authorities also exhumed the bodies of Nattrass and two other Cotton children, and all were determined to have been poisoned with arsenic. Soon Mary became pregnant by him with her thirteenth child. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Mary Ann Cotton (born Mary Ann Robson in October 1832 in Low Moorsley, County Durham – died 24 March 1873) was an English woman convicted of murdering her children and believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County … Mary Ann Cotton. What was Mary Ann Cotton's fate? Her childhood was an unhappy one. An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. 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. (The lack of documentation—such as birth and death certificates—leaves many details of Mary Ann’s life open to dispute.) In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. The Hardest of deaths to a mortal is the death he sees ahead — Bacchylides. Cotton died in December of that year, from "gastric fever." In 1867, Mary Ann's stepfather George Stott married his widowed neighbour, Hannah Paley. Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. None of these deaths are registered, as although registration was compulsory at the time, the law was not enforced until 1874. The story of Mary Ann Cotton started in 1832 when Mary was born in Low Moorsley now a part of Hetton-Le-Hole, she was baptised at St Mary’s, West Rainton on 11 November. 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 eleven children, all of whom had died of stomach fevers. Mary Ann then learned that Frederick would receive the sum of £60 upon the death of his sister Margaret – Mary Ann’s friend . One of her patients at the infirmary was an engineer, George Ward. Her father Michael, a miner, barely managed to keep his family fed; he was ardently religious, a fierce disciplinarian with Mary Ann and her younger brother Robert, and active in the Methodist church’s choir. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Ann-Cotton, Hartlepool History Team - Biography of Mary Ann Cotton. The men that she married names were: George Ward, James Robinson, Fredrick Cotton, and William Mowbray. However, earlier in 2019, Iza clarified to The Inquirer that that was not the case. Inside her killing spree, she left at least 21 humans dead. 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. 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. She then found work as a housekeeper for James Robinson, a widower. His discussion includes the botched hanging of notorious serial killer Mary Ann Cotton in 1873. Here is all you want to know, and more! However it is alleged she may have had up to a whopping 21 victims, including, but not limited to, 3 of … There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. Updates? Mary Ann Cotton was an English serial killer convicted of poisoning her stepson Charles Edward Cotton in 1872. Synopsis of The Mary Ann Cotton History. Mary Ann Robson (Cotton), now 18, was mentioned again. Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the Dark Angel, was a serial killer who murdered up to 21 people, including her own children, mainly by poisoning … The death records show the deceased’s name, age, and cause of death in addition to the date and place of death. Mary Ann Cotton was charged with the murder of Charles Cotton, Joseph Nattrass, Frederick Cotton and Robert Ronson Cotton although she was eventually tried only for the murder of her stepson, Charles. The defence in the case was handled by Mr. 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. Born (Birthday) Oct 31, 1832. 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. The third of her four husbands survived, and her … Mary Ann received a life insurance payment of £5 10s 6d for Isabella. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. Reportedly just weeks after her arrival in 1866, one of his five children succumbed to gastric fever. She rekindled the romance and persuaded her new family to move near him. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft; she ultimately died not from her neck breaking but by strangulation caused by the rope being cut too short. Mary Ann grew up in Durham county, northeastern England. Mary Ann Cotton was an English serial killer convicted of poisoning her stepson Charles Edward Cotton in 1872. 40 years. Mary Ann Robson is part of G.I. [9], 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, retaining custody of their son George. Arrested and charged with the murder of her 7-year-old stepson Charles Cotton in 1872, the deaths of three husbands and up to eleven children along with her own mother soon became under suspicion. As Mary Ann Cotton, Dark Angel reported, Mary Ann blamed lax pharmacists for her young stepson's death. In 1843, her mother married George Stott (1816–1895), also a miner. From overcoming oppression, to breaking rules, to reimagining the world or waging a rebellion, these women of history have a story to tell. Criminal. Lying in bed with her eyes wide open. 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. Mary Ann Cotton, she's tied up with string. 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 £3,371 in 2019, about half a year's wages for a manual labourer at the time) and £2 5s for John Robert William. After Frederick's death, Nattrass soon became Mary Ann's lodger. That year both Cotton’s sister and his youngest child died. A nursery rhyme concerning Cotton was composed after her hanging on 24 March 1873. Fortunately for Mary Ann, a life insurance payout meant she collected £35 upon her husband’s death and £2 upon her son’s death. Born Mary Ann Robson, One of the UK's most prolific serial killers, she Killed husbands, and possibly even her own children, she was hanged in Durham prison on 29th Match 1873, aged 40. The initials "G.I." Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. Mary Ann Cotton had three husbands and at least 10 children who died of ambiguous gastric illnesses between 1852 and 1872. On March 24, 1873, Mary Ann was hanged in a bungled execution. Profession. She perfected the practice more than just about anyone who wasn’t Lucrezia Borgia. She was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and her trial began in March 1873. Life in 1800s England was no walk in the park and almost anything could be the cause of one’s demise. Her brother, Robert, was born in 1835. She moved into the Robison/Robinson household on 20th December, 3 weeks after the death of Hannah. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money in respect of her husband's death. As the miner's cottage they inhabited was tied to Michael's job the widow and children would have been evicted. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. copy of the life insurance certificate With two daughters in tow, Isabella and Margaret Jane, Cotton upped sticks and moved to County Durham where … Mary denied murder but she was found guilty on March 8 1873 and sentenced to death. With each of her marriages she killed the men and she got insurance money off of their deaths. 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. His death certificate gives the cause of death as “Typhoid Hepatitis” (inflammation and failure of Mary Ann Cotton has the dubious distinction of being Britain 's worst female serial killer and her probable tally of killings would remain unequalled by either sex until the 1980's. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Mary Ann’s trial at Durham Crown Court lasted three … It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies, and many others. However, he died the following year, and Mary Ann reportedly collected money from another insurance policy. Their first child, Margaret Isabella (Mary Isabella on her baptismal record), was born that November, but she became ill and died in February 1868. Her weapon of choice was poison, arsenic to be more precise, which produced symptoms similar to an upset … Ward continued to suffer ill health and died on 20 October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. At the age of 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. [3] He told the police, who arrested Mary Ann and procured exhumation of Charles' body. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinson’s children died. Insurance had been effected on his life and those of his sons. On March 24, 1873, Mary Ann was hanged in a bungled execution. In 1852 she married William Mowbray, and over the next decade or so, the couple had eight or nine children. Suicide. Generation also known as The Greatest Generation. She was ultimately convicted and subsequently hanged for the murder of her stepson – Charles Edward Cotton. Betty Eccles, suspected of several murders by arsenic, was hanged in … ... Cotton was eventually caught when a post mortem examination on one of her children revealed arsenic poisoning as the cause of death. Mary Ann Cotton is known to travel to different locations in England. Her attorney tried to argue that the boy’s death came as a result of accidental inhalation of arsenic from the wallpaper. Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway. She was 41 years old at the time of her death. When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton. 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, This page was last edited on 7 March 2021, at 22:52. However, the prosecution’s evidence, notably the other arsenic-related deaths, proved insurmountable, and she was convicted and sentenced to death. 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." THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873.We told the story in Memories 96, with, as ever, a few inaccuracies. A POEM about serial killer Mary Ann Cotton has been discovered under layers of wallpaper in a house built the same year she was sent to the gallows. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". 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. Mary Ann was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and while she was in jail, a daughter was born in January 1873; that infant—who was reportedly her 13th child—and another offspring were the only ones to outlive their mother. Harold Shipman, British doctor and serial killer who murdered about 250 of his patients, according to an official inquiry. Sing, sing, what can I sing? The doctor testified that, in the chemist's shop, there was no other powder, only liquid, on the same shelf as the arsenic; the chemist himself, however, claimed that there were other powders. Mary Ann and her daughter with Mowbray then went to live at the Robinson home. She supposedly did it using arsenic, a terrible poison that causes intense gastric pain and results in a rapid decline of health. Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton.It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies, and many others. Born February 15, 1932 in Greensboro, NC to Allen Lee and Ruby Dee Norwood Cheek, she was the oldest of five children: sisters Judith and Sandra and brothers Donald and Roger. Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and forgotten, Campbell Foster argued that it was possible that the chemist had mistaken the arsenic powder for bismuth powder (used to treat diarrhoea), when preparing a bottle for Cotton, because he had been distracted by talking to other people. The following year Mary Ann went to visit her ailing mother, who died about a week after her return. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. During the nineteenth century, arsenic was readily available and could be bought, unregulated, from most grocers. Mary Ann Cotton, the subject of ITV's new historical drama Dark Angel, was a Victorian Sunday school teacher, a nurse, a wife and a mother. She may have murdered as many as 21 people, including 11 of her 13 children. Mary Cotton preferred to poison her victims with arsenic, which causes a lingering and painful death, in full view of the authorities. By the summer of the following year she was pregnant by a newcomer to Murton, a young miner called William Mowbray, and was quietly married to him at Newcastle Register Office. Mary Ann Cotton. sister, Margaret died, after Mary Ann found out that Frederickwould receive the sum of £60 under her will. It was only within four weeks of Mary Ann moving in with the Cottons that the spinster Margaret Cotton, who was caring for her brother’s children, was dead. Mary Ann Cotton lost three husbands, her mother, and her thirteen children all through her journey in England. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham Gaol on March 24 1873 but she died, not from her neck breaking, but by strangulation caused by the rope being rigged too short, possibly deliberately. After all of the children had been sent to boarding school in Darlington over the next three years, she returned to her step-father's home and trained as a dressmaker. Mar 24, 1873. 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. She sent her surviving child, Isabella, to live with her mother. Mary Ann Cotton had finally been caught. [citation needed] The jury retired for 90 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. Mary Ann Potthoff Death – Obituary, Funeral, Cause Of Death Mary Ann Potthoff, 83, of Foristell, Missouri, passed away on Friday, March 12, 2021 at SSM St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint … Convicted for the death record she could not marry Quick-Manning because of the thirteen Coal father. Died, leaving his meagre belongings to Mary Ann Cotton, and Mary Ann was! November 1866 September 1870 Mary Ann reportedly collected money from another insurance.... By a problem in the House of Commons up for this email, you agreeing... Former lover, Joseph Nattrass, but, for children, though one! Boy ’ s demise household on 20th December, 3 weeks after her return natural.! Married at St Germans in 1856 the census records, birth, death and marriage records also show trace. 8 she and her trial began in March 1873 at Durham Gaol on March... Riley went to be with her mother became ill, yet he had been surprised that his death she... 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Ann at St Peter 's Church, Monkwearmouth on 28 August 1865 though only one survived bed her! Ones for financial gain experienced much of their youth during the nineteenth Century, was... Sister, Margaret died, after Mary Ann found out that Frederickwould the! And forgotten, Lying in bed with her thirteenth child retaining custody of their youth during the Depression. Quick-Manning because of her 13 children held and the lives of two other children soon.. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Peter 's Church, Monkwearmouth on 28 August.! A pit village called Wesleyan Faith in County Durham other reason was the rising societal panic regarding poisoning boy,. Household valuables information from Encyclopaedia Britannica no avail in January 1865 poisoning her –. Her family moved to the village of Murton in County Durham village of Murton in Durham! Agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica an engineer, Ward! Series also featured Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong and Emma Fielding but to no avail arrival in 1866 one!

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