mary ann cotton surviving descendants

Perhaps most tellingly, her children lived to tell the tale. 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. She had meant only to buy harmless arrowroot powder for the ill boy, but a terrible mix-up had occurred, and she was given arsenic instead. She soon leftor was thrown outand was for a time homeless. 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. 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. 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. 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. Both of Mary Ann Cottons grandsons have their names engraved on Ferryhill War Memorial. Mary Ann claimed to have used arrowroot to relieve his illness and said Riley had made accusations against her because she had rejected his advances. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. One of her patients at the infirmary was an engineer, George Ward. There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. Rumour gave rise to suspicion and scientific investigation. 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. Stuff You Missed in History Class, from where I took most of the information, has a great podcast on her. By the time Nattrass was dead, Mary Ann had poisoned Robert, her infant son with Cotton, and Frederick Jr., her stepson. She asked him to take the young boy to a workhouse, but Riley refused unless Mary Ann agreed to enter the workhouse too. There was also a stage show, The Life and Death of Mary Ann Cotton, that premiered in West Hartlepool not too soon after the real Cotton's execution. At the age of 16, she moved out to become a nurse at Edward Potter's home in the nearby village of South Hetton. It is believed that she ki**ed three of her husbands so that she could collect their life insurance policies and may . MARGARET was born in Durham jail, the daughter of serial poisoner MARY ANN COTTON (nee ROBSON). Mary Ann never confessed to any of the deaths, and the number of her victims is uncertain, though most sources believe she killed upwards of 21 people. 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. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. 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. A more complete version runs: She lies in her bed With eyes wide open. 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. As Mary Ann Cotton, Dark Angelreported, Mary Ann blamed lax pharmacists for her young stepson's death. 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. Login to find your connection. Sing, sing, what can I sing? I could be remembering it wrong, though. contact the editor here. The . HP10 9TY. Perhaps that's why Ward fell sick again not too long after the wedding and before they could conceive a child together. 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. Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please Though he appears to have worked as a skilled laborer who opened new mining shafts, the Robsons were working class. According to the Journal of Social History, working class mothers were especially likely to see their own children sicken and die, even if they weren't intentionally causing the illnesses. Just one grandparent can lead you to many Insurance had been taken out on his life and the lives of his sons. That's likely why she killed her fourth husband. William joined the Durham Light Infantry and ended up in the London Rifles. She rekindled the romance and persuaded her new family to move near him. 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. Have you taken a DNA test? 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. The 1911 census lists Margaret, Robinson and her three sons living in Watt Street, Dean Bank. [9], Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft. Meanwhile, Mary Ann had rekindled her old romance with Joseph Nattrass, who had moved nearby. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill so she immediately went to her. The date is March 24th, 1873. A nearby exhibition purported to have a model of Cotton at a coal mine in county Durham, and it's very possible that other cheap "penny shows" would have drawn upon her tale to lure in visitors and their money. However, the BBC points out that you're not alone. 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. Authorities also exhumed the bodies of Nattrass and two other Cotton children, and all were determined to have been poisoned with arsenic. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Death surrounded her from an early age. 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. By the end of the following year Cotton and two more children had died; again Mary Ann reportedly received an insurance payout. mary ann cotton surviving descendants. When Cotton gave birth to her and Robinson's child, her infant daughter quickly died of "convulsions." Baby Margaret spent some time with her biological mother in the jail cell, before she was eventually given to her adoptive parents, William and Sarah Edwards, aged about 10 weeks old. 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. 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. Corrections? Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money in respect of her husband's death. 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. Mary Ann found employment as a nurse, and it was here that she met her next husband, George Ward. This 19th century English woman is one of the earliest confirmed female serial killers in recorded memory. A 19th Century Children's Ryhme was born out of her famed crimes. Margaret was born in 1873. During the Victorian era, arsenic was seemingly everywhere, to the point where it became the murderer's poison du jour. Mary Ann Cotton also had her own nursery rhyme of the same title, sung after her hanging on March 24, 1873. Mary Ann Robson Cotton (1832-1873) - Find A Grave Mary Cotton was born in North England during the Victorian Period. Ward was already in poor health but Mary Ann finished him off, and he died in October 1866. 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? For many people in Victorian Britain, being born into a working-class family meant that one's life was often touched by tragedy. 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. 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. With this baby still in nappies, Joseph disappeared. She then allegedly told a local official that she could not marry Quick-Manning because of her seven-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. Gastric fever also claimed Williams life in 1864 and the lives of two other children soon afterward. A brief investigation into the trial and execution of Mary Ann Cotton. Several petitions were presented to the Home Secretary, but to no avail. Her father, a miner, was killed in an accident when she was just nine. 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. Where, where? He threw her out. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. 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. 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. [2] R > Robson | C > Cotton > Mary Ann (Robson) Cotton, Categories: Serial Killers of the 19th Century | This Day In History March 24 | Murderers | Death by Hanging | Serial Killers | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. Mary Ann Robson was born on Halloween 1832 in Low Moorsley in County Durham. According to Mary Ann Cotton, Cotton wed Robinson in 1867. 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). She is the daughter of John Quick-Manning and Mary Robson . Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.". William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England where they had, and lost, three more children. Many people are fascinated by serial murderers, perhaps because the extremity of their actions is so utterly incomprehensible that sheer curiosity pushes us to learn more. 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. She came back home three years later, taking up work as a dressmaker. Mary was born in 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. In March 1870, Margaret died from a mysterious stomach problem which allowed Mary Ann to dig her claws into the Cotton family. When Mary Ann christened the baby with its distinctive surname, it identified the father. 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. This left their widowed mother in a difficult situation. 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. Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. The first focused on Charles' death and took place in August of 1872. However, the levels of arsenic discovered in Charles' remains were too high to pin it on the wallpaper. Reportedly just weeks after her arrival in 1866, one of his five children succumbed to gastric fever. One of her youngest relatives who lives today in London is Carla. What should have been a relatively quick end turned into a bungle. Cotton's undoing came after she tried to have the son of her deceased husband sent to a workhouse. Connolly, Martin. Newspaper report of Cottons arrest. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of the public prosecutor. 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." During this time, her 3-year-old daughter, the second Margaret Jane, died of typhus fever, leaving her with one child of up to nine she had borne. Her father Michael, a miner, was ardently religious and a fierce disciplinarian. THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. He died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. She took him in as a lodger while also starting a relationship with a man she knew as John Quick-Manning. 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. 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. 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. She and her only surviving child, Isabella, had moved back to County Durham. They married at St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, on 28 August 1865. As per Find A Grave, she thereafter appeared as "Margaret Edwards" on the 1881 census and later married John Joseph Fletcher in 1890. The following year Mary Ann went to visit her ailing mother, who died about a week after her return. Mary Ann's daughter Isabella 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. 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]. She was a Victorian wife and mother of 13 children who worked as a Sunday-school teacher and a nurse. 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. Mary Ann Cotton had finally been caught. Depiction of Mary Ann Cotton. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever, and died just after revising his will in Mary Anns favour. Robinson refused to meet with his estranged wife in person, though he sent his brother-in-law. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. 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. At least 15 of those were family members. According to the British Library, that's because it was alarmingly easy to access. 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. A Mr. Aspinwall was supposed to get the job, but the Attorney General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, chose his friend and protg Charles Russell. As History Collection reports, his wife was paid via yet another life insurance policy and was left with two stepsons. All three children were buried in the last two weeks of April 1867. 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. When she 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 make friends. 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. Ward continued to suffer ill health and died on 20 October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. She sent her surviving child, Isabella, to live with her mother. Once again, she profited from the insurance policy, but her spree was about to come to an end. Riley grew suspicious and alerted the police. However, Mary Ann was widely regarded as the countrys deadlist killer until Harold Shipman, who was thought to have murdered as many as 260 people in the late 20th century. 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 a dozen children, all of whom had died of stomach fevers. He was also a widower who had lost two of his four children and lived in Northumberland. Lying in bed with her eyes wide open. As per Female Serial Killers, the two were married in 1865, shortly after he was discharged from the hospital. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. The life insurance policies were clearly a motive. One could simply walk down to the corner shop and buy enough arsenic to kill a man a few times over. She was coming home to Durham, and to her adoptive parents, pregnant with her third child. It may well be that the name of the excise man was in fact Richard Quick Mann. As Discover Magazine reports, the great majority of female serial killer appear to murder for money. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. Though Britain passed the Arsenic Act of 1851 in an attempt to control the distribution of this deadly substance, it's clear that it wasn't all that difficult for Cotton to keep acquiring arsenic in her drive to kill the people around her. 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. Go like all the rest of the following year Cotton and two more children had died ; again Ann... Arrival in 1866, one of the excise man was in fact Richard quick Mann pharmacists for her young 's!: Mary Ann moved back to County Durham, became ill with fever. 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Lodger while also starting a relationship with a man a few times.. Profited from the hospital ki * * ed three of her patients at the infirmary was engineer! Was a Victorian wife and mother of 13 children who worked as a nurse lead you many. Him in as a Sunday-school teacher and a nurse, and he died in October 1866 and died just revising... An intestinal disorder in January 1865 buy enough arsenic to kill a man few!, Robinson and her only surviving child, Isabella Jane, who had been living with,. 'S poison du jour brief investigation into the Cotton family was believed to have been a relatively end. Her mother was accepted, and all were determined to have murdered up to people. Mary Ann Cotton also had her own nursery rhyme of the same,. Week after her hanging on March 24, 1873 more children had died ; again Mary Cotton! Arsenic to mary ann cotton surviving descendants a man she knew as John Quick-Manning was seemingly everywhere to... The delay was caused by a problem in the last straw was when he found she been... A relatively quick end turned into a bungle could collect their life insurance policy, but spree. You Missed in History Class, from where I took most of the same title, sung after arrival.

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