mary ann cotton surviving descendants

William joined the Durham Light Infantry and ended up in the London Rifles. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. Mary Ann Cottons trial, for allegedly murdering her stepson Charles, was delayed for several months so that she could give birth. That's likely why Cotton's mother quickly remarried, in order to keep her family away from the horrifying poverty and harsh conditions of Victorian workhouses. Plus, it really was everywhere, from the green dye in clothes, to wallpaper, to rat poison. There are further versions, slightly more crude, still passed on in school playgrounds in the region, such as: She lies in her coffin with her finger up her bottom. They married in Monkwearmouth on 28 August 1865. For many people in Victorian Britain, being born into a working-class family meant that one's life was often touched by tragedy. When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton, where she went to a new school and found it difficult to . Dark Angel, is based on the extraordinary true story of the Victorian poisoner Mary Ann Cotton, played by Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt. Soon she became pregnant by him with her twelfth child. An English woman convicted of murdering her children. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. The ships manifest shows they were bound for Pennsylvania a coalmining area where Joseph presumably planned to find work. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please 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. 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." At least 15 of those were family members. Mary Ann Cotton. That child John Joseph Fletcher, named after his late father was born at Merrington Lane, Spennymoor, in early 1895. But faced with abject poverty and an ailing husband, we see how ruthlessly determined . 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. Lying in bed with her eyes wide open. Her mother, Margaret, died after Cotton visited the woman in March 1867. When Mary Ann christened the baby with its distinctive surname, it identified the father. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft. Like many of the other dead people in Cotton's wake, Ward presented symptoms that were alarmingly similar to arsenic poisoning. Mary Ann Cotton had finally been caught. Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.. The 1911 census lists Margaret, Robinson and her three sons living in Watt Street, Dean Bank. 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 3,560 in 2021, about half a year's wages for a manual labourer at the time) and 2 5s for John Robert William. Neither came home. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. Mary Ann found employment as a nurse, and it was here that she met her next husband, George Ward. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. 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. Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.". The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. Before their final break, Cotton had attempted to get Robinson to insure both himself and the remaining children. [1] Baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November 1832. - Mary Ann Cotton, a widow, is in custody at West Auckland, charged with having poisoned her stepson, aged eight years. Meanwhile, Mary Ann had rekindled her old romance with Joseph Nattrass, who had moved nearby. Though she's been gone for nearly a century and a half, Cotton remains one of the most shocking female killers in modern history. Thank you for visiting mary ann cotton family tree page. She and her only surviving child, Isabella, had moved back to County Durham. However, in 1870 Mary Ann met another widower, Frederick Cotton, who was the brother of a friend. Another daughter, Isabella, was born in 1858, and Margaret Jane died in 1860. The Messed Up Truth About 19th Century Murderess Mary Ann Cotton. Although she is often said to be Britains first female serial killer, this is a false claim. Memories is aware that there are quite a lot of direct descendants of Mary Ann Cotton living in our area, and weve been asked to let their sleeping dogs lie. [6] The first part of the dramatisation was broadcast on 31 October 2016, the second part was broadcast on 7 November. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Regardless of her counterarguments, Mary Ann was still to die. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. 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. Today we dive into the serial killer Mary Ann Cotton. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Ann-Cotton, Hartlepool History Team - Biography of Mary Ann Cotton. 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. She named her Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton, partially to target her latest lover as the father of the child. He threw her out. She lies in bed with her eyes. 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. Here's the messed-up truth about this notorious 19th century murderess. The trial got going on March 3 and Mary Ann was found guilty of the one murder four days later. As Ward was still recovering from his illness, he collected relief payments instead of working, while Cotton moved into the role of primary earner for their household. Rather quickly, she sent the daughter to live with her own mother, Margaret, and set out on her own once again. She rekindled the romance and persuaded her new family to move near him. The relationship of Mary Ann and Nattrass didnt last very long. It is believed that she ki**ed three of her husbands so that she could collect their life insurance policies and may . He was also a widower who had lost two of his four children and lived in Northumberland. Within a few days, Charles Edward had died, and when Riley found out, he urged the doctor to avoid writing the death certificate until the cause of death was fully investigated. She asked him to take the young boy to a workhouse, but Riley refused unless Mary Ann agreed to enter the workhouse too. Yet, she wasn't alone. He died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. This week, I'll delve into her psychology. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinsons children died. 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. Mary Ann Cotton was in Sunderland on October 31, 1832. When Riley pushed the doctor, Kilburn re-tested the tissue and found that it was full of arsenic. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. Mary Ann would go on to kill many of her own children, her husbands, lovers and other family. She then found work as a housekeeper for James Robinson, a widower. Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.. Wife of George Ward; William Mowbray; Frederick Cotton and James Robinson 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. 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. Corrections? 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. Mary Ann, pregnant again, was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton's death. Cotton had rather more luck at work, where she came across a patient named George Ward. Facts concerning Mary Ann are difficult to pin down, but. While some claimed that she was Britains first female serial killer, other women had previously been hanged for poisoning multiple people. Whether or not he suspected his wife of something worse than fraud isn't clear, but we do know that Robinson refused, saving their lives. Although her mother began to recover, she also began to complain of stomach pains. 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. 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]. ", "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. Where, where? His name is carved with countless thousands of others on the Menin Gate at Ypres. 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. "Black puddens" refers to black pudding, a type of sausage made with pig's blood. Her attorney tried to argue that the boys death came as a result of accidental inhalation of arsenic from the wallpaper. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were marriedthough she was still wed to Robinsonand she later gave birth to a son. 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. 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. Her father, a miner, was killed in an accident when she was just nine. An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. They married at St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, on 28 August 1865. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. 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. The defence at Mary Ann's trial claimed that Charles died from inhaling arsenic used as a dye in the green wallpaper of the Cotton home. 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. Mary Ann belonged to Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish (St. Stanislaus Church) and was a member of the Rosary Altar Sodality. 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. As per Find A Grave, she thereafter appeared as "Margaret Edwards" on the 1881 census and later married John Joseph Fletcher in 1890. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. By the end of the following year Cotton and two more children had died; again Mary Ann reportedly received an insurance payout. The first focused on Charles' death and took place in August of 1872. Mary Cotton was born in North England during the Victorian Period. Yet, according to Female Serial Killers, his cause of death was listed as cholera and typhoid. Reportedly just weeks after her arrival in 1866, one of his five children succumbed to gastric fever. YouTube. Although his doctor acknowledged Wards poor health, he was surprised that the man died so suddenly. Daily Mirror. She enjoyed crafting, hosting ceramics classes for many years, creating scrapbooks of family memories, and making special cards for every occasion. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. 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. 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." Sister of Robert Robson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cotton. [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? As per History Collection, her younger sister Margaret died in 1834, when Cotton would have been only 8 years old. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. What should have been a relatively quick end turned into a bungle. She took him in as a lodger while also starting a relationship with a man she knew as John Quick-Manning. He didnt. . She came back home three years later, taking up work as a dressmaker. She also began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, History Collection reports, though the affair never resolved into marriage. Though many killers are male, it turns out that women have turned to serial murder as well. In March 1873 her three-day trial began. Comments have been closed on this article. She is believed to have murdered up to 21 people in total. Riley countered that the boy was a "little healthy fellow," but Charles died on July 12, 1872. HSW Podcast: *Howstuffworks.com. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. Few people who lived with Mary Ann Cotton were shown mercy, not least the children who were so unfortunate as to enter her orbit. 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. Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. 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. SO how guilty was Mary Ann Cotton? Later in 1901, Margaret married Robinson Kell, a miner at the Dean and Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and had his son. 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." In 1867, Mary Ann's stepfather George Stott married his widowed neighbour, Hannah Paley. Around this time she took up with a former lover, Joseph Nattrass, but later became . William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England where they had, and lost, three more children. 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. 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. As one witness quoted in Mary Ann Cotton put it, Nattrass "died in a fit" and was "in great agony." Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. 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. Authorities also exhumed the bodies of Nattrass and two other Cotton children, and all were determined to have been poisoned with arsenic. 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. Then came the First World War. By . Perhaps Robinson didnt link Mary Ann with the numerous deaths in the family, but he certainly became suspicious when she became overly insistent that he insure his life. She was a Victorian wife and mother of 13 children who worked as a Sunday-school teacher and a nurse. MARGARET was born in Durham jail, the daughter of serial poisoner MARY ANN COTTON (nee ROBSON). 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 executioner reportedly had to push down on her shoulders to speed up the process, which took three minutes to finally kill her. The doctor who attended Charles had kept samples, and they tested positive for arsenic. It is believed that he was killed in a railway accident. She was found guilty and sentenced to die. Margaret was born in 1873. Although her mother started getting better, she also began to complain of stomach pains. She was later found guilty and executed. She was employed in various jobs, including Sunday school. One of her patients at the infirmary was engineer George Ward. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of the public prosecutor. William died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. Editors' Code of Practice. He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. She went undetected for decades, apparently killing a succession of husbands, children, and stepchildren with arsenic, then a readily available poison. The couple was married in September 1870, but since Mary Ann had not divorced Robinson, it was a bigamous marriage. She sent her remaining child, Isabella, to live with her mother. Perhaps most tellingly, her children lived to tell the tale. They married in September 1870, and Frederick died in December 1871 from the ever-present "gastric fever." Daughter of Michael Robson and Margaret Lonsdale Ward was already in poor health but Mary Ann finished him off, and he died in October 1866. John joined the Green Howards, rose to be a lance corporal, and was killed, on June 11, 1917, at the Battle of Messines, near Ypres. A verdict of "natural causes" was found but on reporting in the paper, someone totalled up Mary Ann's moves around the north of England and revealed the death toll. James Robinson was a shipwright at Pallion in Sunderland, whose wife Hannah had recently died. 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. She had two children with Robinson but the first one, Margaret Isabella, died within a few months of her birth. After moving frequently, the family settled in Hendon, Durham county, in about 1856. In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. And her killing spree started right here in. 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. After three minutes, she died of strangulation. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Though Mary Ann Cotton was dead and buried by the spring of 1873, the tales of her life became so notorious that she has never really left us. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). She rekindled the romance and persuaded her new family to move near him. As Discover Magazine reports, the great majority of female serial killer appear to murder for money. William and John went off to fight. 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 subsequently worked as a hospital nurse in nearby Sunderland, and in 1865 she married a patient, George Ward. Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869. Baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November 1832. 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 that stage, only one of the nine kids she had with Mowbray was alive. 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. None of these deaths are registered, as although registration was compulsory at the time, the law was not enforced until 1874.