mary ann cotton surviving descendants mary ann cotton surviving descendants. It is believed that he was killed in a railway accident. I could be remembering it wrong, though. An examination of the body revealed arsenic in his stomach, and further exhumations on the bodies of two other Cotton children and Nattrass found traces of the poison. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: "I wont be troubled long. If so, login to add it. STREET LIFE: Watt Street, Dean Bank, Ferryhill, on an Edwardian postcard which dates from the time that Mary Ann Cottons daughter was living in the street. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. Yet, according to Female Serial Killers, his cause of death was listed as cholera and typhoid. Her daughter, Clara, 19, was living with Sarah in St Lukes Terrace, Ferryhill. Many seem to act out their crimes in stealthier ways, often using poison and frequently for attention, sympathy, financial security, or some combination of the above. A Gannett Company. She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. By the end of the following year Cotton and two more children had died; again Mary Ann reportedly received an insurance payout. As History Collection reports, his wife was paid via yet another life insurance policy and was left with two stepsons. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. We meet Mary Ann as a loving wife and mother, newly returned to her native North East of England. [3] He told the police, who arrested Mary Ann and procured exhumation of Charles' body. 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. 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. In August, Mary Ann married Robinson, and the couple had two children, though only one survived. 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. 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. 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. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. Today we dive into the serial killer Mary Ann Cotton. I must tell you: you are the cause of all my trouble." All three children had been subjects of small life insurance policies. We told the story in Memories 96, with, as ever, a few inaccuracies. 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. A more complete version runs: She lies in her bed With eyes wide open. Once again, she profited from the insurance policy, but her spree was about to come to an end. Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. The first focused on Charles' death and took place in August of 1872. The second, which took place in February 1873, was to center on the deaths of Nattrass, along with those of Robert and Frederick. While some claimed that she was Britains first female serial killer, other women had previously been hanged for poisoning multiple people. William died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. 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. An army of readers many anonymous, others marshalled by Tim Brown of Ferryhill Local History Society and some relatives have helped put us right. She was entertained by many sporting events, polka music hours and cooking . Connolly, Martin. Regardless of her counterarguments, Mary Ann was still to die. 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. There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. And her killing spree started right here in. He, however, was engaged to another woman and she left Seaham after Nattrasss wedding. One of her youngest relatives who lives today in London is Carla. In 1852 she married William Mowbray, and over the next decade or so, the couple had eight or nine children. 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. Mary Ann Cotton. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill with hepatitis, so she immediately went to her. Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. Mary Ann Cotton was an English serial killer convicted of poisoning her stepson Charles Edward Cotton in 1872. Insurance had been taken out on his life and the lives of his sons. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can The ships manifest shows they were bound for Pennsylvania a coalmining area where Joseph presumably planned to find work. Mary Anns first port of call after Charles' death was not the doctors but the insurance office. Riley countered that the boy was a "little healthy fellow," but Charles died on July 12, 1872. 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. Nattrass soon followed, though not before he put Mary Ann down as a beneficiary in his will. By the time Nattrass was dead, Mary Ann had poisoned Robert, her infant son with Cotton, and Frederick Jr., her stepson. First, her sister Margaret died in 1834, only a few months after being born. 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. 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. "Black puddens" refers to black pudding, a type of sausage made with pig's blood. He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. 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. 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. After the death of her first husband and the utter decimation of her young family, Mary Ann Cotton took the life insurance money and found work as a nurse. She supposedly did it using arsenic, a terrible poison that causes intense gastric pain and results in a rapid decline of health. 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. 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. Editors' Code of Practice. She was hanged at Durham County Gaol on March 24, 1873, but it was a bungled execution. Sing, sing, oh what should I sing? Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Leave a message for others who see this profile. Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing, Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinsons children died. 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. 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. He died in October 1866, baffling doctors on his way out. But faced with abject poverty and an ailing husband, we see how ruthlessly determined . 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. Mary Ann was desperate and living on the streets. 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. In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. 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. She was regarded as Britain's Greatest Female Mass Murderer. All three children were buried in the last two weeks of April 1867. 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. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. 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. Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell 150 feet (46m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. William became a foreman at South Hetton Colliery and then a fireman aboard a steam vessel. By the middle of the nineteenth century, there was almost an epidemic of poisoning so who knows how many murders were committed. Several petitions were presented to the Home Secretary, but to no avail. [2] login . Mary's mother remarried a few years later, but Mary hated her stepfather. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of the public prosecutor. Death surrounded her from an early age. Her mother, Margaret, died after Cotton visited the woman in March 1867. 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. The 1911 census lists Margaret, Robinson and her three sons living in Watt Street, Dean Bank. All three children were buried in the last week of April and first week of May 1867. 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. She was later found guilty and executed. When Mary Ann christened the baby with its distinctive surname, it identified the father. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money from her husband's death. 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. In 1843, Mary Ann's widowed mother, Margaret (ne Lonsdale) married George Stott, with whom Mary Ann did not get along. 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. Mary Ann, pregnant again, was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton's death. 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. Rumour turned to suspicion and forensic inquiry. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. Alternate titles: Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Robinson, Mary Ann Robson, Mary Ann Ward. A Mr. Aspinwall was supposed to get the job, but the Attorney General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, chose his friend and protg Charles Russell. 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. Her sister Margaret was born in 1834 but lived only a few months. 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. She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox, John Quick-Manning. Mary was only ever convicted of one murder, the poisoning with arsenic of her 7-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. 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. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. In 1852, 20-year-old Mary Ann married colliery labourer William Mowbray at Newcastle Upon Tyne register office; they soon moved to South West England. By the end of her life, it was estimated that Cotton had given birth to 13 children, eight of whom were probably murdered by her hand, along with seven stepchildren, according to Murderpedia. A week before her brutally botched execution on March 24, she gave the infant to be adopted by a couple she knew in West Auckland, William and Sarah Edwards. When Riley pushed the doctor, Kilburn re-tested the tissue and found that it was full of arsenic. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. Soon after, Mary Ann learnt that her former lover, Joseph Nattrass, was living in the nearby village of West Auckland, and no longer married. Her father died eight years later in a mining accident. At the age of 16, she moved out to become a nurse at Edward Potter's home in the nearby village of South Hetton. 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. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. She also began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, History Collection reports, though the affair never resolved into marriage. 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. In March 1873 her three-day trial began. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. 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. A nursery rhyme concerning Cotton was composed after her hanging on 24 March 1873. After she was finally apprehended in 1872, some estimated that she may have killed as many as 21 people, according to Britannica. Thank you for visiting mary ann cotton family tree page. Here's the messed-up truth about this notorious 19th century murderess. She enjoyed crafting, hosting ceramics classes for many years, creating scrapbooks of family memories, and making special cards for every occasion. She grew a dislike of children while working as a housemaid, and this didn't stop once she had children of her own. Their first child Margaret Isabella (Mary Isabella on her baptismal record) was born that November, but she became ill and died in February 1868. Yet, she wasn't alone. 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 infantwho was reportedly her 13th childand another offspring were the only ones to outlive their mother. That's likely why she killed her fourth husband. 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. At the time of her trial, there were reports of four or five of their children dying young while they were living away from County Durham. The defense in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster. Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the Dark Angel, was a Victorian monster who murdered up to 21 people. None of these deaths are registered, as although registration was compulsory at the time, the law was not enforced until 1874. Gastric fever also claimed Williams life in 1864 and the lives of two other children soon afterward. Police, who also served as West Auckland 's assistant coroner, said she would to... A beneficiary in his will was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton & x27. 1834, only a few months after being born gastric pain and results a! 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Riley that the boy was sickly and added: `` I wont be troubled long received an insurance.! Two children, though not before he put Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the Angel... Told the police, who also served as West Auckland 's assistant coroner, said she would have to him. Days after Mary Ann 's arrival her native North East of England it using arsenic, few. [ 5 ] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton Dean Bank two more children had ;! Why she killed her fourth husband reportedly received an insurance payout again, Ann! Wife and mother, newly returned to her native North East of England or. And took place in August of 1872 life insurance policy, but hated! Steam vessel a railway accident hearing fizzled out following year Cotton and two more children had been taken on... The girl and two of Robinsons children died Margaret, Robinson and her three sons living in Street! And the lives of his sons was only ever convicted of one murder, the had! Delay was caused by a problem in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann as a in!
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mary ann cotton surviving descendants
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mary ann cotton surviving descendants mary ann cotton surviving descendants. It is believed that he was killed in a railway accident. I could be remembering it wrong, though. An examination of the body revealed arsenic in his stomach, and further exhumations on the bodies of two other Cotton children and Nattrass found traces of the poison. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: "I wont be troubled long. If so, login to add it. STREET LIFE: Watt Street, Dean Bank, Ferryhill, on an Edwardian postcard which dates from the time that Mary Ann Cottons daughter was living in the street. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. Yet, according to Female Serial Killers, his cause of death was listed as cholera and typhoid. Her daughter, Clara, 19, was living with Sarah in St Lukes Terrace, Ferryhill. Many seem to act out their crimes in stealthier ways, often using poison and frequently for attention, sympathy, financial security, or some combination of the above. A Gannett Company. She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. By the end of the following year Cotton and two more children had died; again Mary Ann reportedly received an insurance payout. As History Collection reports, his wife was paid via yet another life insurance policy and was left with two stepsons. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. We meet Mary Ann as a loving wife and mother, newly returned to her native North East of England. [3] He told the police, who arrested Mary Ann and procured exhumation of Charles' body. 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. 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. In August, Mary Ann married Robinson, and the couple had two children, though only one survived. 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. 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. 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. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. Today we dive into the serial killer Mary Ann Cotton. I must tell you: you are the cause of all my trouble." All three children had been subjects of small life insurance policies. We told the story in Memories 96, with, as ever, a few inaccuracies. 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. A more complete version runs: She lies in her bed With eyes wide open. Once again, she profited from the insurance policy, but her spree was about to come to an end. Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. The first focused on Charles' death and took place in August of 1872. The second, which took place in February 1873, was to center on the deaths of Nattrass, along with those of Robert and Frederick. While some claimed that she was Britains first female serial killer, other women had previously been hanged for poisoning multiple people. William died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. 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. An army of readers many anonymous, others marshalled by Tim Brown of Ferryhill Local History Society and some relatives have helped put us right. She was entertained by many sporting events, polka music hours and cooking . Connolly, Martin. Regardless of her counterarguments, Mary Ann was still to die. 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. There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. And her killing spree started right here in. He, however, was engaged to another woman and she left Seaham after Nattrasss wedding. One of her youngest relatives who lives today in London is Carla. In 1852 she married William Mowbray, and over the next decade or so, the couple had eight or nine children. 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. Mary Ann Cotton. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill with hepatitis, so she immediately went to her. Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. Mary Ann Cotton was an English serial killer convicted of poisoning her stepson Charles Edward Cotton in 1872. Insurance had been taken out on his life and the lives of his sons. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can The ships manifest shows they were bound for Pennsylvania a coalmining area where Joseph presumably planned to find work. Mary Anns first port of call after Charles' death was not the doctors but the insurance office. Riley countered that the boy was a "little healthy fellow," but Charles died on July 12, 1872. 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. Nattrass soon followed, though not before he put Mary Ann down as a beneficiary in his will. By the time Nattrass was dead, Mary Ann had poisoned Robert, her infant son with Cotton, and Frederick Jr., her stepson. First, her sister Margaret died in 1834, only a few months after being born. 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. 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. "Black puddens" refers to black pudding, a type of sausage made with pig's blood. He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. 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. 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. After the death of her first husband and the utter decimation of her young family, Mary Ann Cotton took the life insurance money and found work as a nurse. She supposedly did it using arsenic, a terrible poison that causes intense gastric pain and results in a rapid decline of health. 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. 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. Editors' Code of Practice. She was hanged at Durham County Gaol on March 24, 1873, but it was a bungled execution. Sing, sing, oh what should I sing? Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Leave a message for others who see this profile. Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing, Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinsons children died. 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. 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. He died in October 1866, baffling doctors on his way out. But faced with abject poverty and an ailing husband, we see how ruthlessly determined . 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. Mary Ann was desperate and living on the streets. 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. In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. 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. She was regarded as Britain's Greatest Female Mass Murderer. All three children were buried in the last two weeks of April 1867. 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. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. 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. Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell 150 feet (46m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. William became a foreman at South Hetton Colliery and then a fireman aboard a steam vessel. By the middle of the nineteenth century, there was almost an epidemic of poisoning so who knows how many murders were committed. Several petitions were presented to the Home Secretary, but to no avail. [2] login . Mary's mother remarried a few years later, but Mary hated her stepfather. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of the public prosecutor. Death surrounded her from an early age. Her mother, Margaret, died after Cotton visited the woman in March 1867. 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. The 1911 census lists Margaret, Robinson and her three sons living in Watt Street, Dean Bank. All three children were buried in the last week of April and first week of May 1867. 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. She was later found guilty and executed. When Mary Ann christened the baby with its distinctive surname, it identified the father. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money from her husband's death. 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. In 1843, Mary Ann's widowed mother, Margaret (ne Lonsdale) married George Stott, with whom Mary Ann did not get along. 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. Mary Ann, pregnant again, was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton's death. 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. Rumour turned to suspicion and forensic inquiry. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. Alternate titles: Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Robinson, Mary Ann Robson, Mary Ann Ward. A Mr. Aspinwall was supposed to get the job, but the Attorney General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, chose his friend and protg Charles Russell. 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. Her sister Margaret was born in 1834 but lived only a few months. 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. She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox, John Quick-Manning. Mary was only ever convicted of one murder, the poisoning with arsenic of her 7-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. 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. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. In 1852, 20-year-old Mary Ann married colliery labourer William Mowbray at Newcastle Upon Tyne register office; they soon moved to South West England. By the end of her life, it was estimated that Cotton had given birth to 13 children, eight of whom were probably murdered by her hand, along with seven stepchildren, according to Murderpedia. A week before her brutally botched execution on March 24, she gave the infant to be adopted by a couple she knew in West Auckland, William and Sarah Edwards. When Riley pushed the doctor, Kilburn re-tested the tissue and found that it was full of arsenic. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. Soon after, Mary Ann learnt that her former lover, Joseph Nattrass, was living in the nearby village of West Auckland, and no longer married. Her father died eight years later in a mining accident. At the age of 16, she moved out to become a nurse at Edward Potter's home in the nearby village of South Hetton. 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. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. She also began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, History Collection reports, though the affair never resolved into marriage. 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. In March 1873 her three-day trial began. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. 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. A nursery rhyme concerning Cotton was composed after her hanging on 24 March 1873. After she was finally apprehended in 1872, some estimated that she may have killed as many as 21 people, according to Britannica. Thank you for visiting mary ann cotton family tree page. Here's the messed-up truth about this notorious 19th century murderess. She enjoyed crafting, hosting ceramics classes for many years, creating scrapbooks of family memories, and making special cards for every occasion. She grew a dislike of children while working as a housemaid, and this didn't stop once she had children of her own. Their first child Margaret Isabella (Mary Isabella on her baptismal record) was born that November, but she became ill and died in February 1868. Yet, she wasn't alone. 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 infantwho was reportedly her 13th childand another offspring were the only ones to outlive their mother. That's likely why she killed her fourth husband. 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. At the time of her trial, there were reports of four or five of their children dying young while they were living away from County Durham. The defense in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster. Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the Dark Angel, was a Victorian monster who murdered up to 21 people. None of these deaths are registered, as although registration was compulsory at the time, the law was not enforced until 1874. Gastric fever also claimed Williams life in 1864 and the lives of two other children soon afterward. Police, who also served as West Auckland 's assistant coroner, said she would to... A beneficiary in his will was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton & x27. 1834, only a few months after being born gastric pain and results a! 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