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. Soon after the move her father fell 150 feet (46 m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton Colliery. Just one grandparent can lead you to many In 1843, Mary Ann's widowed mother, Margaret (ne Lonsdale) married George Stott, with whom Mary Ann did not get along. This 19th century English woman is one of the earliest confirmed female serial killers in recorded memory. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinsons children died. But more than a dozen close friends and . Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. She also began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, History Collection reports, though the affair never resolved into marriage. When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton. got your result, Mary Ann Cotton Family Tree Check All Members List, Merovingian Family Tree You Should Check It. [citation needed] The jury retired for 90 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. "Mary Ann Cotton, a widow, is in custody at West Auckland, charged with having poisoned her stepson, aged eight years. As one witness quoted in Mary Ann Cotton put it, Nattrass "died in a fit" and was "in great agony." According to Mary Ann Cotton, her father was a coal miner. As per Find A Grave, she thereafter appeared as "Margaret Edwards" on the 1881 census and later married John Joseph Fletcher in 1890. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Ann-Cotton, Hartlepool History Team - Biography of Mary Ann Cotton. I must tell you: you are the cause of all my trouble." William became a foreman at South Hetton Colliery and then a fireman aboard a steam vessel. Mary Ann Cotton, tied up with string. 29 July 2015. While some claimed that she was Britains first female serial killer, other women had previously been hanged for poisoning multiple people. 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 . As with all nursery rhymes passed on primarily by word of mouth, there are variations. With this baby still in nappies, Joseph disappeared. Doctor William Byers Kilburn, who had attended Charles, had kept samples, and tests showed they contained arsenic. Perhaps most tellingly, her children lived to tell the tale. by | Nov 27, 2020 | shib coin price prediction | 1 bedroom apartment scarborough kijiji | Nov 27, 2020 | shib coin price prediction | 1 bedroom apartment scarborough kijiji [6] The first part of the dramatisation was broadcast on 31 October 2016, the second part was broadcast on 7 November. Stuff You Missed in History Class, from where I took most of the information, has a great podcast on her. 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. She then found work as a housekeeper for James Robinson, a widower. Mary's mother remarried a few years later, but Mary hated her stepfather. It is said that the prisoner, who is comparatively a young woman, has. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. It is believed that he was killed in a railway accident. 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. Margaret died from a mysterious stomach problem which allowed Mary Ann to dig her claws into the Cotton family. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's The defense in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster. He was seriously injured in 1918 on the Somme, but refused to be sent home, probably because he believed he would recover and rejoin the frontline. She soon leftor was thrown outand was for a time homeless. Riley went to the village police and convinced the doctor to delay writing a death certificate until the circumstances could be investigated. She and her only surviving child, Isabella, had moved back to County Durham. Her father, a miner, was killed in an accident when she was just nine. A short time later, she married William Mowbray in an 1852 ceremony. She apparently wanted to give Quick-Manning the dubious honor of becoming husband number five. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. 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. One of her youngest relatives who lives today in London is Carla. Mary Ann's first visit after Charles' death was not to the doctor but the insurance office. 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. 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. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to George Robinson was the other. However, in 1870 Mary Ann met another widower, Frederick Cotton, who was the brother of a friend. She took him in as a lodger while also starting a relationship with a man she knew as John Quick-Manning. Soon, Mary became pregnant by him with her thirteenth child. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft. Though she's been gone for nearly a century and a half, Cotton remains one of the most shocking female killers in modern history. Russell's appointment over Aspinwall led to a question in the House of Commons. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were marriedthough she was still wed to Robinsonand she later gave birth to a son. Here's the messed-up truth about this notorious 19th century murderess. Like many of the other dead people in Cotton's wake, Ward presented symptoms that were alarmingly similar to arsenic poisoning. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. 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." Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869. One of her patients at the infirmary was engineer George Ward. He died in October 1866, baffling doctors on his way out. An army of readers many anonymous, others marshalled by Tim Brown of Ferryhill Local History Society and some relatives have helped put us right. Dark Angel, is based on the extraordinary true story of the Victorian poisoner Mary Ann Cotton, played by Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt. Margaret was born in 1873. Mary Ann would go on to kill many of her own children, her husbands, lovers and other family. That man was recorded as "John Quick-Manning," though it's possible that he gave Mary Ann a partially false name. Frederick followed his predecessors to the grave in December of that year, from gastric fever." Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. A court-appointed lawyer put forth the idea that Charles had ingested arsenic through wallpaper, says the RadioTimes. Product Description. Someone had either inadvertently or, as some suspect, intentionally miscalculated the drop needed to break her neck and bring death instantaneously. By now, she had become pregnant with a child by an excise officer named Richard Quick Mann. We told the story in Memories 96, with, as ever, a few inaccuracies. After three years there, she returned to her mother's home and trained as a dressmaker. Mary Ann Robson was born on Halloween 1832 in Low Moorsley in County Durham. His name is carved with countless thousands of others on the Menin Gate at Ypres. The jury retired for 90 minutes before finding Mary Ann guilty. 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. [2] 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. 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. Up in the air Sellin' black puddens a penny a pair. Mary is 25 degrees from Margaret Atwood, 28 degrees from Jim Carrey, 27 degrees from Elsie Knott, 26 degrees from Gordon Lightfoot, 30 degrees from Alton Parker, 27 degrees from Beatrice Tillman, 25 degrees from Jenny Trout, 27 degrees from Justin Trudeau, 28 degrees from Edwin Boyd, 24 degrees from Barbara Hanley, 33 degrees from Fanny Rosenfeld and 27 degrees from Cathryn Hondros on our single family tree. When Cotton gave birth to her and Robinson's child, her infant daughter quickly died of "convulsions." Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.". Mary Ann grew up in Durham county, northeastern England. And her killing spree started right here in. 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. Perhaps at this point, it would be best to draw a discrete veil over the family tree, except to say that Margaret lived into old age with the stigma of being the daughter of one of Britains most notorious killers. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of the public prosecutor. 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. Daughter of Michael Robson and Margaret Lonsdale 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. The executioner reportedly had to push down on her shoulders to speed up the process, which took three minutes to finally kill her. 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. Ward was already in poor health but Mary Ann finished him off, and he died in October 1866. The body of the stepson was examined and found to contain arsenic. But in late March 1870 Margaret died from an undetermined stomach ailment, leaving Mary Ann to console the grieving Frederick Sr. Plus, it really was everywhere, from the green dye in clothes, to wallpaper, to rat poison. She went undetected for decades, apparently killing a succession of husbands, children, and stepchildren with arsenic, then a readily available poison. All three children were buried in the last week of April and first week of May 1867. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on Charles' life still awaited collection. 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. Her attorney tried to argue that the boys death came as a result of accidental inhalation of arsenic from the wallpaper. However, he died the following year, and Mary Ann reportedly collected money from another insurance policy. 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]. She asked him to take the young boy to a workhouse, but Riley refused unless Mary Ann agreed to enter the workhouse too. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton is a female serial killer. Login to find your connection. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. James Robinson was a shipwright at Pallion, Sunderland, whose wife, Hannah, had recently died. contact the editor here. 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. She allegedly poisoned up to 21 people before being executed in 1873. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can The move must have been Mary Ann's idea . The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. 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. Mary Ann backed off but not before ominously predicting that Charles would "go like all the rest of the Cotton family." During this time, her 3-year-old daughter died, leaving her with one child out of the nine she had borne. She sent her remaining child, Isabella, to live with her mother. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever, and died just after revising his will in Mary Anns favour. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money in respect of her husband's death. Newspaper report of Cottons arrest. After her marriage to Robinson crumbled, Cotton was introduced to Frederick Cotton by his sister, Margaret. YouTube. The mother had to take care of three children, while suffering with the depression owing to her husband's death. Cotton collected another insurance payout and moved on. The couple had five children, four of whom died from gastric fever. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please (The lack of documentationsuch as birth and death certificatesleaves many details of Mary Anns life open to dispute.) That left Cotton and her daughter with an insurance payout of some 35, according to Mary Ann Cotton, Dark Angel. 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. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Margaret died at her home - 66, Church Lane, Ferryhill and left an Estate valued at 740, divided between her daughter CLARA and only surviving son - ROBINSON KELL. As Discover Magazine reports, the great majority of female serial killer appear to murder for money. She was regarded as Britain's Greatest Female Mass Murderer. Her preferred method of killing was poisoning with arsenic. 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. That description fits Mary Ann Cotton very well indeed. It is believed that she ki**ed three of her husbands so that she could collect their life insurance policies and may . The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. This week, I'll delve into her psychology. Mary Ann had cashed in William's life insurance, equivalent to about 1,700 in today's money. 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. Yet, the 7-year-old Charles was, to her mind, a serious impediment to her plans. THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. She was regarded as Britain's Greatest Female Mass Murderer. At the beginning of it all, the girl who would become Mary Ann Cotton seemed, frankly, pretty unremarkable. 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