Her father soon remarried, and … Frederick Jr. died in March 1872 and the infant Robert soon after. Interesting Mary Ann Cotton Facts: 14-26. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: “I won’t be troubled long. A two-part drama about the Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton. Russell's appointment over Aspinwall led to a question in the House of Commons. She did it for the insurance money, supposedly. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill with hepatitis, so she immediately went to her. Mary Ann Cotton, tied up with string. ... Mary Ann Cotton was born on October 31 1832, in Low Moorsley (now part of … A celebration of Mary Ann's life will be announced at a later date. She married Fualaau when he was an adult. [9], Death of Charles Edward Cotton and inquest, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Mary Ann Cotton | Biography, Murders, Trial, & Execution", "Dark Angel: How were Mary Ann Cotton's terrible crimes uncovered? Mary grew up wealthy; her father, Robert Todd, was a successful merchant and a politician. The Raveness, an English performance poet from Warwickshire, composed a spoken word piece entitled "Of Rope and Arsenic" about Cotton and featured the nursery rhyme on her album, This page was last edited on 3 February 2021, at 16:56. Sing, sing, what can I sing? 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]. Mary Ann Cotton (b. Reportedly just weeks after her arrival in 1866, one of his five children succumbed to gastric fever. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. 1857, 5th April Margaret Jane Mowbray christened at … That year both Cotton’s sister and his youngest child died. It was then that Margaret Cotton, her friend, introduced Mary to her brother Frederick Cotton… The doctor testified that, in the chemist's shop, there was no other powder, only liquid, on the same shelf as the arsenic; the chemist himself, however, claimed that there were other powders. Selling black puddings, a penny a pair. Another daughter, Isabella, was born in 1858, and Margaret Jane died in 1860. She rekindled the romance and persuaded her new family to move near him. Mary Ann Cotton, née Mary Ann Robson, also known as Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Ward, and Mary Ann Robinson, (born October 31?, 1832, Low Moorsley, Durham county, England—died March 24, 1873, Durham county), British nurse and housekeeper who was believed to be Britain’s most prolific female serial killer. She chiefly used arsenic poisoning, causing gastric pain and rapid decline of health. We told the story in Memories 96, with, as ever, a few inaccuracies. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on (the still living) Charles' life still awaited collection. With Joanne Froggatt, Alun Armstrong, Isla McMonigle, Laura Morgan. Mary Ann was desperate and living on the streets. Mary Ann Cotton’s trial began on 5 March 1873. 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]. 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. 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. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. Mary Ann was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and while she was in jail, a daughter was born in January 1873; that infant—who was reportedly her 13th child—and another offspring were the only ones to outlive their mother. Up in the air Sellin' black puddens a penny a pair. Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway. 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. Son of James Robinson and Mary Ann Cotton Brother of Mary Isabella Robinson Half brother of Isabella Mowbray; Margaret Jane Mowbray; Margaret Jane Mowbray; John Robert Mowbray; Robert Robson Cotton and 5 others; ; ; ; Managed by: Melissa Marie Hummell: Last Updated: May 23, 2018: View Complete Profile. A wholesome beauty from Reno, Nevada, Dawn Wells was on her way to becoming a ballerina, but bad knees prevented her from realizing the dream. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Lying in bed with her eyes wide open. After Mowbray died, Mary Ann married George Ward — who died from a long illness characterised by intestinal problems just a year later. In 1843, her mother married George Stott (1816–1895), also a miner. Her eyes turned up to heaven, her brave efforts to conquer her most terrible ordeal yet to come, her body in nervous tremors which by this stage shook her body from top to toe. Riley went to the village police and convinced the doctor to delay writing a death certificate until the circumstances could be investigated. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. 1832, d. 1873) Cotton was a mother of 13 and thought to have killed upwards of 21 people, including 11 of her children, three husbands, two lovers, a friend, and several acquaintances. Mary Ann Cotton is tied up in string Where? The lives of William and of their children were insured by the British and Prudential Insurance office and Mary Ann collected a payout of £35 on William's death (equivalent to £3,371 in 2019, about half a year's wages for a manual labourer at the time) and £2 5s for John Robert William. In 1852, at the age of 20, Mary Ann married colliery labourer William Mowbray at Newcastle Upon Tyne register office; they soon moved to South West England. Mrs. Margaret Stott came from the northeast to visit her surviving grandchild and namesake. She complained that the last surviving Cotton boy, Charles Edward, was in the way and asked Riley if he could be committed to the workhouse. Then her friend Margaret Cotton introduced her to her brother, Frederick, a pitman and recent widower living in Walbottle, Northumberland, who had lost two of his four children. Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and forgotten, Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. Several petitions were presented to the Home Secretary, but to no avail. 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. A more dreadful object than Mary Ann Cotton has seldom been seen as she made her way to the place of her execution. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. Robinson himself had a lucky escape. Where, where? Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. The series also featured Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong and Emma Fielding. www.hartlepoolhistoryteam.co.uk A.D.1999, 2010 & 2021. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money in respect of her husband's death. Sing? The only birth recorded was that of their daughter, Margaret Jane, born at St Germans in 1856. view all 18 Immediate Family. Mary Ann Mowbray was a nurse. The third of her four husbands survived, and her 13th and last child … She was charged with his murder, although the trial was delayed until after the delivery in Durham Gaol on 10 January 1873 of her thirteenth and final child, whom she named Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton. Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell 150 feet (46 m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were married—though she was still wed to Robinson—and she later gave birth to a son. But that was only after five children in the household mysteriously died (three by Robinson’s previous marriage, one of Mary Ann’s and Robinson’s, and the last surviving child of Mary Ann and William Mowbray). She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. She is strongly suspected of 14 or 15 murders, either for gain or to enable her to marry or both, and 21 people who were close to her died over a 20 year period. William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England, where William worked as a fireman aboard a steam vessel sailing out of Sunderland, then as a colliery foreman. Mary Ann Cotton also had her own nursery rhyme of the same title, sung after her hanging on March 24, 1873. Gastric fever also claimed William’s life in 1864 and the lives of two other children soon afterward. During this time, her 3½-year-old daughter, (the second) Margaret Jane, died of typhus fever, leaving her with one child of up to nine she had borne. Ann Cotton was born circa 1847, at birth place. In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. A month later, when James' baby, John, died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. Mary Ann's trial took place on 5th March 1873, it took the jury 90 minutes to find her guilty of the murder of Charles E Cotton. 1856 – 23rd June: Margaret Jane Mowbray born at St. Germans, Cornwall. Campbell Foster argued that it was possible that the chemist had mistaken the arsenic powder for bismuth powder (used to treat diarrhoea), when preparing a bottle for Cotton, because he had been distracted by talking to other people. Some three minutes passed before she finally died. 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. Mary Ann was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and while she was in jail, a daughter was born in January 1873; that infant—who was reportedly her 13th child—and another offspring were the only ones to outlive their mother. A brief investigation into the trial and execution of Mary Ann Cotton. Wells got the part of Mary Ann Summers in Gilligan's Island (1964), after CBS decided not to g… He threw her out, retaining custody of their son George. At the age of 16, Mary Ann left home to become a nurse at the nearby village of South Hetton, in the home of Edward Potter, a manager at Murton colliery. Mary Ann Cotton- Nursery Rhyme. Soon after, Mary Ann learnt that her former lover, Joseph Nattrass, was living 48 kilometres (30 mi) away in the County Durham village of West Auckland, and was no longer married. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Mary Ann Cotton (born Mary Ann Robson in October 1832 in Low Moorsley, County Durham – died 24 March 1873) was an English woman convicted of murdering her children and believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. They married at St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth on 28 August 1865. She sent her surviving child, Isabella, to live with her mother. When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton. Mary Ann's downfall came when she was asked by a parish official, Thomas Riley, to help nurse a woman who was ill with smallpox. [3] He told the police, who arrested Mary Ann and procured exhumation of Charles' body. Once thrown out by Robinson, Mary started living on streets as she had lost everything. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. In August, Mary Ann married Robinson, and the couple had two children, though only one survived. Rumour gave rise to suspicion and scientific investigation. On March 24, 1873, Mary Ann was hanged in a bungled execution. Mary Ann was charged with the murder of Charles Edward Cotton, and while she was in jail, a daughter was born in January 1873; that infant—who was reportedly her 13th child—and another offspring were the only ones to outlive their mother. Mary’s mother remarried a few years later, but Mary … Mary Ann grew up in Durham county, northeastern England. 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. Insurance had been effected on his life and those of his sons. Mary Ann’s 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. Ashley Biden is Joe Biden’s youngest daughter and only biological child with his second wife, Jill Biden. Authorities also exhumed the bodies of Nattrass and two other Cotton children, and all were determined to have been poisoned with arsenic. Her father was reputed to have been MARY ANN COTTON'S long time lover - JOHN QUICKMANNING, a married man. During this time, her 3½-year-old daughter, (the second) Margaret Jane, died of typhus fever, leaving her with one child of up to nine she had borne. Mary Ann was the stereotypical innocent, fresh-faced Kansas farm girl, designed to contrast with Ginger (Tina Louise, now the sole surviving cast … Early life. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Of Mary Ann's 13 children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith (1873–1954) and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of prosecution counsel. A widower named James Robinson had the good fortune to throw Mary Ann out of the house in 1869 for stealing. Mary Ann's daughter Isabella, from the marriage to William Mowbray, was brought back to the Robinson household and soon developed severe stomach pains and died, as did two of Robinson's children, Elizabeth and James. Her brother, Robert, was born in 1835. The mother had to take care of three children, while suffering with the depression owing to her husband’s death. Then he found that Mary Ann had been forcing his older children to pawn household valuables. They had one child: Edward F Cotton. Mary Ann and her daughter with Mowbray then went to live at the Robinson home. One of her patients at the infirmary was an engineer, George Ward. Despite this, she did become Miss Nevada and was in the 1960 Miss America pageant. B ritain’s first serial killer ended her 20-year poisoning spree in 1873, thrashing around at the end of a hangman’s rope in Durham Jail. Ann Cotton 1847 Ann Cotton in 1871 England & Wales Census. She then found work as a housekeeper for James Robinson, a widower. MARGARET was born in Durham jail, the daughter of serial poisoner MARY ANN COTTON (nee ROBSON). THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. Lying in bed with her bones all rotten. There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. Lyrics: Mary Ann Cotton, Dead and forgotten 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? James Robinson was a shipwright at Pallion in Sunderland, whose wife, Hannah, had recently died. Mary Ann was arrested and charged with murder, however her trial was delayed until after the birth of her twelfth child, Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton on 10th January 1873. After all of the children had been sent to boarding school in Darlington over the next three years, she returned to her step-father's home and trained as a dressmaker. She soon left—or was thrown out—and was for a time homeless. She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox. Up in the air. After moving frequently, the family settled in Hendon, Durham county, in about 1856. She allegedly poisoned up to 21 people before being executed in 1873. She was charged with his murder, although the trial was delayed until after the delivery of her thirteenth and final child in Durham Gaol on 10 January 1873, whom she named Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton. Their child, Mary Isabella, was born that November but died in March 1868. The defence in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster, who argued during the trial that Charles had died from inhaling arsenic used as a dye in the green wallpaper of the Cotton home. Mary Ann, husband and child returned with her to County Durham. [8], Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. None of these deaths are registered, as although registration was compulsory at the time, the law was not enforced until 1874. Wells majored in drama during her collegiate years (she was originally going to study chemistry) and after graduation moved to Hollywood and got parts in several popular television series. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Mary Ann subsequently worked as a hospital nurse in nearby Sunderland, and in 1865 she married a patient, George Ward. William died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. 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