mary ann cotton surviving descendants

That left Cotton and her daughter with an insurance payout of some 35, according to Mary Ann Cotton, Dark Angel. She was regarded as Britain's Greatest Female Mass Murderer. 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. 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. After three years there, she returned to her mother's home and trained as a dressmaker. One month later, when James' baby died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. Perhaps most tellingly, her children lived to tell the tale. The second, which took place in February 1873, was to center on the deaths of Nattrass, along with those of Robert and Frederick. 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. Investigations into her behaviour soon showed a pattern of deaths. Alternate titles: Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Robinson, Mary Ann Robson, Mary Ann Ward. That is until she grew overconfident and made a remarkable blunder. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever, and died just after revising his will in Mary Anns favour. [1] Baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November 1832. Mary Ann was quickly arrested. If so, login to add it. 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. 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. Although his doctor acknowledged Wards poor health, he was surprised that the man died so suddenly. 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. Mary Ann Robson was born on Halloween 1832 in Low Moorsley in County Durham. A nearby exhibition purported to have a model of Cotton at a coal mine in county Durham, and it's very possible that other cheap "penny shows" would have drawn upon her tale to lure in visitors and their money. The attending doctor later gave evidence that Ward had been very ill, yet he had been surprised that his death was so sudden. I could be remembering it wrong, though. Death surrounded her from an early age. It includes lines like "Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string./Where, where?/Up in the air.". 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. 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. 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. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were marriedthough she was still wed to Robinsonand she later gave birth to a son. 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. Facts concerning Mary Ann are difficult to pin down, but this was definitely her eighth child she had several miscarriages and there may have been other children. That description fits Mary Ann Cotton very well indeed. Instead, Cotton dropped only two feet and proceeded to choke, still alive. The Cotton case would be the first of several famous poisoning cases he would be involved in during his career, including those of Adelaide Bartlett and Florence Maybrick. However, she added, I wont be troubled long. After the boy died, the official notified the police. Rumour gave rise to suspicion and scientific investigation. Regardless of her counterarguments, Mary Ann was still to die. Mary Ann Cotton - Dark Angel: Britain s First Female Serial Kille, Pen & Sword Publishing, 2012. Mary Ann Cotton was born in a small village in North England on 31st October 1832, to a miner father who died while Mary was just 8. 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." However, he died the following year, and Mary Ann reportedly collected money from another insurance policy. Margaret had acted as substitute mother for the remaining children, Frederick Jr. and Charles. It may well be that the name of the excise man was in fact Richard Quick Mann. 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. HP10 9TY. Mary Ann was subject to two court hearings, separated by a period of time set aside for her to give birth to her final child. The date is March 24th, 1873. After George Ward's death and the subsequent insurance payment, Britannica reports, Mary Ann Cotton became a housekeeper for widower James Robinson in 1866. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on Charles' life still awaited collection. She then found work as a housekeeper for James Robinson, a widower. discoveries. Baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November 1832. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. Few people who lived with Mary Ann Cotton were shown mercy, not least the children who were so unfortunate as to enter her orbit. 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. An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. Soon enough, Margaret died of a mysterious gastrointestinal ailment, allowing Mary Ann to get closer to Frederick. Of Mary Ann's 13 children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith (18731954) and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. 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 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. 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. In 1871, the new fivesome moved to West Auckland: Mary Ann, Frederick Cotton, his sons Frederick Junior and Charles Edward, and the new baby, Robert Robson. According to The Northern Echo, Mary Ann soon took up with a manager of the West Auckland Brewery, a man by the name of John Quick-Manning. The trial got going on March 3 and Mary Ann was found guilty of the one murder four days later. They married at St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, on 28 August 1865. 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. In 1852 she married William Mowbray, and over the next decade or so, the couple had eight or nine children. The so-called fever mimicked the symptoms of arsenic poisoning, a fact which would later prove interesting to investigators. Mother of Margaret Jane Mowbray; Isabella Mowbray; Margaret Jane Mowbray; John Robert Mowbray; Robert Robson Cotton and 3 others; Mary Isabella Robinson; George Robinson and Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Fletcher Kell less He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. 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. Russell's appointment over Aspinwall led to a question in the House of Commons. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. Later in 1901, Margaret married Robinson Kell, a miner at the Dean and Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and had his son. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. The doctor who attended Charles had kept samples, and they tested positive for arsenic. Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.". He threw her out, retaining custody of their son George. The mother had to take care of three children, while suffering with the depression owing to her husband's death. Login to find your connection. A nursery rhyme concerning Cotton was composed after her hanging on 24 March 1873. 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. She had two children with Robinson but the first one, Margaret Isabella, died within a few months of her birth. He was also a widower who had lost two of his four children and lived in Northumberland. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. So, by the summer of 1865, Mary Ann, widow Mowbray, had buried her husband William and at least eight, if not nine, of her own children. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. According to PBS, there's even been a modern two-part television drama, Dark Angel, which premiered on PBS' Masterpiece Theater in 2017. 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. The jury retired for 90 minutes before finding Mary Ann guilty. And her killing spree started right here in. Missedinhistory.com. 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. 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. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. However, she stayed in Durham and lived in a place called Seaham Harbour. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. As Discover Magazine reports, the great majority of female serial killer appear to murder for money. Cotton was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. A brief investigation into the trial and execution of Mary Ann Cotton. Someone had either inadvertently or, as some suspect, intentionally miscalculated the drop needed to break her neck and bring death instantaneously. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on (the still living) Charles' life still awaited collection. As per Find A Grave, she thereafter appeared as "Margaret Edwards" on the 1881 census and later married John Joseph Fletcher in 1890. There was also a stage show, The Life and Death of Mary Ann Cotton, that premiered in West Hartlepool not too soon after the real Cotton's execution. Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and forgotten, Only two of her children survived her, including this new arrival. With thanks to Vivienne Smith, Durham; Joyce Malcolm, Newton Aycliffe; Alistair Fraser, the Western Front Association; John Dinning and Geoff Wall, the Ferryhill Heritage Centre; Tom Hutchinson, Bishop Auckland; Vi Steventon of Newton Aycliffe; Ian Smyth Herdman of Hartlepool and everybody else who has been in touch. [3] He told the police, who arrested Mary Ann and procured exhumation of Charles' body. Born into a mining family in 1832, Mary Ann grew up in a time when life moved quickly and death was all around. 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. Mary Ann and her daughter with Mowbray then went to live at the Robinson home. Insurance had been effected on his life and those of his sons. Depiction of Mary Ann Cotton. By May 1872, Mary Ann Cotton had moved to West Auckland with her last remaining child, stepson Charles Cotton. Her death was registered by her son ROBINSON the day after she died. Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. That year both Cottons sister and his youngest child died. Some substances, like cyanide and strychnine, were also readily available but produced obvious results. Sing, sing, what can I sing? She is believed to have murdered up to 21 people in total. Daughter of Michael Robson and Margaret Lonsdale 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. Would have to accompany him became ill with gastric fever, he was surprised that his death was so.... Stepson Charles Cotton Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and they tested positive for arsenic was... Mother for the remaining children, Frederick Jr. and Charles, she in. 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