Mary Ann Robson was born on 31 October 1832 at Low Moorsley,[1] County Durham to Margaret, ne Londsdale and Michael Robson, a colliery sinker; and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November. . Mary Ann Cotton (ne Robson; 31 October 1832 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. login . Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. Like many of the other dead people in Cotton's wake, Ward presented symptoms that were alarmingly similar to arsenic poisoning. Our female killer of interest was born Mary Ann Her sister Margaret was born in 1834 but lived only a few months. According to Mary Ann Cotton, Cotton wed Robinson in 1867. Yet, according to Female Serial Killers, his cause of death was listed as cholera and typhoid. 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. Rumour gave rise to suspicion and scientific investigation. Moreover, she was also forcing her stepchildren to pawn household items. Mary Ann Cotton's trial, for allegedly murdering her stepson Charles, was delayed for several months so that she could give birth. Though many killers are male, it turns out that women have turned to serial murder as well. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. He fled and changed his surname: some say he went abroad; others that he returned to his hometown of Darlington where, reconciled with his wife, he ran a small beerhouse. While one child can have fond memories of their parent, another could have terrifying memories. 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. Cotton died in December of that year, from "gastric fever." Their first child Margaret Isabella (Mary Isabella on her baptismal record) was born that November, but she became ill and died in February 1868. Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. In 1869, Robinson discovered that she was stealing from him and reportedly kicked her out. One of the more chilling legacies of Cotton's time on Earth is a children's nursery rhyme. The doctor testified that there was no other powder on the same shelf in the chemist's shop as the arsenic, only liquid; the chemist himself claimed that there were other powders. On March 24, 1873, Mary Ann was hanged in a bungled execution. [1] Baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November 1832. Mary Ann Cotton was finally hanged at Durham County Goal on 24th March 1873 and out of the 13 children she birthed in her lifetime, only two survived - a daughter, Margaret Edith, and a son, George Robinson. Another daughter, Isabella, was born in 1858, and Margaret Jane died in 1860. Riley countered that the boy was a "little healthy fellow," but Charles died on July 12, 1872. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. I must tell you: you are the cause of all my trouble." 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. She served there for three years. Ward continued to suffer ill health and died on 20 October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. 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. 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." Autosize All Columns Ag Grid, Mary Ann Robson was born on 31 October 1832 at Low Moorsley, [1] County Durham to Margaret, ne Londsdale and Michael Robson, a colliery sinker; and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November. The drama is based on the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by historian David Wilson and remains true to many of the details of how the poisoner got found out - but . He is buried in Cambrai cemetery. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. 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. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. 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. 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. 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. However, the BBC points out that you're not alone. Matthew Ridgway, whose father was the Green River Killer remembers his father as a regular dad. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. Why arsenic, though? Up in the air Sellin black puddens a penny a pair. Patrick Lynch - October 23, 2017. A month later, when James' baby John died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. Nattrass soon followed, though not before he put Mary Ann down as a beneficiary in his will. Many people are fascinated by serial murderers, perhaps because the extremity of their actions is so utterly incomprehensible that sheer curiosity pushes us to learn more. They were married in August 1865, but the marriage didnt last long. 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. 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. Her death was registered by her son ROBINSON the day after she died. A Mr Aspinwall was first considered but the Attorney General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, whose decision it was, chose his friend and protg Charles Russell. In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. Her death was registered by her son ROBINSON the day after she died. As per History Collection, her younger sister Margaret died in 1834, when Cotton would have been only 8 years old. She named her Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton, partially to target her latest lover as the father of the child. The cunning Victorian murderess poisoned three husbands, 12 children, her mother, a friend, and two lovers. The "great moral drama," as it was described, likely used the bloody true crime tropes so beloved by Victorians to impart a decidedly un-subtle lesson about how to live one's life the right way. This left their widowed mother in a difficult situation. When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton. Sql Count Where Value Equals, Though many of the people around her hadn't caught on to Mary Ann Cotton's murderous ways by the time her second husband had died, it's now rather obvious to people who have her whole story that she was using arsenic. tenthpin management consultants salary . One of her patients at the infirmary was engineer George Ward. 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. 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." According to Mary Ann Cotton, Cotton wed Robinson in 1867. It had no taste, no odor, no color, nothing that would alert the potential poison victim to its presence in their food or drink until the substance had already begun to take effect. When Mary was 8 she and her family moved to the Village of Murton in County Durham. William joined the Durham Light Infantry and ended up in the London Rifles. 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. In September 1870 Mary Ann and Cotton were marriedthough she was still wed to Robinsonand she later gave birth to a son. Meanwhile, Mary Ann had rekindled her old romance with Joseph Nattrass, who had moved nearby. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. 25 Feb/23. However, the levels of arsenic discovered in Charles' remains were too high to pin it on the wallpaper. Belle Gunness was a hard-working Norwegian immigrant to America who took in three foster children (Greig). Hon misstnks bland annat ha mrdat tre av sina fyra makar, elva av sina egna barn samt ett av sina styvbarn genom att frgifta dem med arsenik i syfte att f ut pengar frn deras livfrskringar.Hon dmdes dock enbart fr ett mord An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. The move must have been Mary Ann's idea . Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway. Then he found that Mary Ann had been forcing his older children to pawn household valuables. We told the story in Memories 96, with, as ever, a few inaccuracies. Home. By May 1872, Mary Ann Cotton had moved to West Auckland with her last remaining child, stepson Charles Cotton. As Discover Magazine reports, the great majority of female serial killer appear to murder for money. She did not die on the gallows from breaking of her neck but died by strangulation because the rope was set too short, possibly deliberately. Later in 1901, Margaret married Robinson Kell, a miner at the Dean and Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and had his son. Mary Ann Cotton was an English serial killer convicted of poisoning her stepson Charles Edward Cotton in 1872. Last week, we covered the life and crimes of Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the West Auckland Poisoner. Riley went to the village police and convinced the doctor to delay writing a death certificate until the circumstances could be investigated. 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." 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. One could simply walk down to the corner shop and buy enough arsenic to kill a man a few times over. Of Mary Ann's 13 children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith (18731954) and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on (the still living) Charles' life still awaited collection. Mary Ann Cotton's now-inevitable trial was delayed, as it soon became clear to officials that she was pregnant. According to PBS, there's even been a modern two-part television drama, Dark Angel, which premiered on PBS' Masterpiece Theater in 2017. Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton is a female serial killer. Riley countered that the boy was a "little healthy fellow," but Charles died on July 12, 1872. One could simply walk down to the corner shop and buy enough arsenic to kill a man a few times over. Mary Ann Cotton, she's tied up with string. Mary Ann Cotton was a British woman, the frail-looking daughter of a coal miner (Wilson and Frey). She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. [7] The drama was inspired by the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by David Wilson, a criminologist. 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. Gastric fever also claimed Williams life in 1864 and the lives of two other children soon afterward. , got your result about mary ann cotton family tree please comment if we missed anything here, please let us know. Cotton was no exception. Their first child Margaret Isabella (Mary Isabella on her baptismal record) was born that November, but she became ill and died in February 1868. She and her only surviving child, Isabella, had moved back to County Durham. As History Collection reports, his wife was paid via yet another life insurance policy and was left with two stepsons. With this baby still in nappies, Joseph disappeared. She officially died of hepatitis, though she died just over a week after her daughter came to tend to her. 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. Though he appears to have worked as a skilled laborer who opened new mining shafts, the Robsons were working class. The scene is the hanging gallery. The word was that she had killed anything up to 21 of her husbands, lovers, children and stepchildren, and even her own mother making her Britains most prolific mass murderer until Harold Shipman. Yet, she wasn't alone. Daily Mirror. As Nattrass had very few possessions, she was once again in financial difficulty. She was only ever convicted for the murder of one, though it led to her execution by hanging in 1873. As per Find A Grave, she thereafter appeared as "Margaret Edwards" on the 1881 census and later married John Joseph Fletcher in 1890. Later in 1901, Margaret married Robinson Kell, a miner at the Dean and Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and had his son. Few people who lived with Mary Ann Cotton were shown mercy, not least the children who were so unfortunate as to enter her orbit. During the Victorian era, arsenic was seemingly everywhere, to the point where it became the murderer's poison du jour. She also began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, History Collection reports, though the affair never resolved into marriage. Although her mother started getting better, she also began to complain of stomach pains. Things seemed to grow worse for the family after Mowbray took out life insurance policies on himself and their three remaining children. Mary Ann Robson was born on 31 October 1832 and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November..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 make friends. UPTO 50% OFF ON ALL PRODUCTS. She asked him to take the young boy to a workhouse, but Riley refused unless Mary Ann agreed to enter the workhouse too. mary ann cotton surviving descendants. The life insurance policies were clearly a motive. When the gallows trapdoor opened, Mary Ann Cotton . She was, as The Northern Echo reports, remembered after her 1954 death as "intelligent, warm and kind-hearted." As one witness quoted in Mary Ann Cotton put it, Nattrass "died in a fit" and was "in great agony." Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and forgotten, Though Britain passed the Arsenic Act of 1851 in an attempt to control the distribution of this deadly substance, it's clear that it wasn't all that difficult for Cotton to keep acquiring arsenic in her drive to kill the people around her. According to the British Library, that's because it was alarmingly easy to access. 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. 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. Major Highways In The Southwest Region, He recalls a man that barely yelled, supported school activities, and took family trips camping. Her stepson, Frederick Jr., and Robert, her infant son with Frederick, died early 1872. Lying in bed with her eyes wide open. The relationship of Mary Ann and Nattrass didnt last very long. , partially to target her latest lover as the father of the other dead people in Cotton 's trial... Continued to suffer ill health and died just over a week after her 1954 as. Everywhere, to the corner shop and buy enough arsenic to kill a man a few.. Dead people in Cotton 's trial, for allegedly murdering her stepson, Frederick Jr., and had his.... 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