BLOOMINGTON Kimberly Ann (Cotton) Smith, 65, of Bloomington went to her heavenly home at 2:53 p.m., on Thursday, January 5, 2023 surrounded by her family. Mary Ann Robson was born on Halloween 1832 in Low Moorsley in County Durham. 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. Her stepson, Frederick Jr., and Robert, her infant son with Frederick, died early 1872. 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. The couple was married in September 1870, but since Mary Ann had not divorced Robinson, it was a bigamous marriage. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. They were married in August 1865, but the marriage didnt last long. This week, I'll delve into her psychology. Like many of the other dead people in Cotton's wake, Ward presented symptoms that were alarmingly similar to arsenic poisoning. 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. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill so she immediately went to her. Her attorney tried to argue that the boys death came as a result of accidental inhalation of arsenic from the wallpaper. She was believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. That's likely why she killed her fourth husband. In 1872 Nattrass died, leaving his meagre belongings to Mary Ann. Mary Ann, pregnant again, was arrested and charged with Charles Cotton's death. One of her patients at the infirmary was engineer George Ward. Around this time she took up with a former lover, Joseph Nattrass, but later became pregnant by another man, John Quick-Manning. 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. That is not to say she was entirely innocent, although it does seem very unlikely that she murdered her own mother, who died of hepatitis. He threw her out. Both of Mary Ann Cottons grandsons have their names engraved on Ferryhill War Memorial. 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." William became a foreman at South Hetton Colliery and then a fireman aboard a steam vessel. Sarah Chesham killed four people and was executed in 1851; both used arsenic. 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. A Gannett Company. Cotton was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. Enter a grandparent's name. Later in 1901, Margaret married Robinson Kell, a miner at the Dean and Chapter Colliery in Ferryhill, and had his son. ", "ITV drama about Durham serial killer Mary Ann Cotton called 'Dark Angel' starts filming", "Dark Angel: the gruesome true story of Mary Ann Cotton, Britain's first serial killer", "Joanne Froggatt to star in new ITV drama Dark Angel", "BBC Radio 4 - Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley", "All Mine Enemys Whispers The Story of Mary Ann Cotton", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_Ann_Cotton&oldid=1133232730, 19th-century executions by England and Wales, People convicted of murder by England and Wales, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from December 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Around 21, including 3 of her husbands and 12 children. 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. Depiction of Mary Ann Cotton. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Margaret died from a mysterious stomach problem which allowed Mary Ann to dig her claws into the Cotton family. 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. Mary Cotton was born in North England during the Victorian Period. She officially died of hepatitis, though she died just over a week after her daughter came to tend to her. However, she stayed in Durham and lived in a place called Seaham Harbour. After her marriage to Robinson crumbled, Cotton was introduced to Frederick Cotton by his sister, Margaret. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinsons children died. By now, she had become pregnant with a child by an excise officer named Richard Quick Mann. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. At that stage, only one of the nine kids she had with Mowbray was alive. Mary Ann was destitute and barely surviving on the streets, but she was bailed out by her friend, Margaret, who introduced the black widow to her brother, Frederick Cotton. Her death was registered by her son ROBINSON the day after she died. Her family describe her as being immensely private, intelligent, warm and kind-hearted, and a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Mary Ann's first visit after Charles' death was not to the doctor but the insurance office. Cotton took her daughter, Isabella Jane, who had been living with Margaret, with her. Arsenic, however, was more subtle. It is quite clear that much of south Durham knew her life story, but it is also clear that she was accepted, and even admired, by that community. Geni requires JavaScript! She was only ever convicted for the murder of one, though it led to her execution by hanging in 1873. The scene is the hanging gallery. In Low Moorsley, Tyne & Wear. The inquiry into Charles Cotton's death showed that Mary Ann's weapon of choice was arsenic. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Please report any comments that break our rules. Then came the First World War. A 19th Century Children's Ryhme was born out of her famed crimes. Yet, the 7-year-old Charles was, to her mind, a serious impediment to her plans. 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. 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. 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. James Robinson was a shipwright at Pallion in Sunderland, whose wife Hannah had recently died. Explore genealogy for Mary (Cotton) Marshall born 1553 Abbotts Ann, Andover, Hampshire, England died 1625 London, England including ancestors + descendants + 1 photos + 2 genealogist comments + more in the free family tree community. Mary Ann's daughter Isabella, from the marriage to William Mowbray, was brought back to the Robinson household and soon developed bad stomach pains and died; so did another two of Robinson's children. Sing, sing, what can I sing? Where, where? Mary Ann backed off but not before ominously predicting that Charles would "go like all the rest of the Cotton family." She had two children with Robinson but the first one, Margaret Isabella, died within a few months of her birth. She was coming home to Durham, and to her adoptive parents, pregnant with her third child. Mary Ann Cotton's now-inevitable trial was delayed, as it soon became clear to officials that she was pregnant. All three children were buried in the last two weeks of April 1867. Comments have been closed on this article. 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. The last straw was when he found she had been forcing his children to pawn household valuables for her. 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. The 1911 census lists Margaret, Robinson and her three sons living in Watt Street, Dean Bank. 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. Mary Ann Cotton, she's tied up with string. An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. Mary Anns last remaining daughter, Isabella, also succumbed to gastric fever and Mary Ann received 5 10s 6d in insurance money. However, the first hearing led to Mary Ann's conviction for the death of Charles in March of that year. After Frederick's death, Nattrass soon became Mary Anns lodger. As per Find A Grave, she thereafter appeared as "Margaret Edwards" on the 1881 census and later married John Joseph Fletcher in 1890. She was hanged at Durham County Gaol on March 24, 1873, but it was a bungled execution. Mary Ann was desperate and living on the streets until 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. 2008 - 2022 INTERESTING.COM, INC. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. Mary Ann nursed the baby in her cell one visitor told The Northern Echo how he had encountered Mrs Cotton sitting on a stool close by a good fire, giving the breast to her baby until all avenues of appeal were exhausted. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. The attending doctor later gave evidence that Ward had been very ill, yet he had been surprised that his death was so sudden. She grew a dislike of children while working as a housemaid, and this didn't stop once she had children of her own. The defense in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster. Born into a mining family in 1832, Mary Ann grew up in a time when life moved quickly and death was all around. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. 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. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Despite all the deaths, there was still no evidence against Mary Ann, and she was completely free from suspicion. William joined the Durham Light Infantry and ended up in the London Rifles. 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. 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. Although her mother began to recover, she also began to complain of stomach pains. The body of the stepson was examined and found to contain arsenic. It went like this: Mary Ann Cotton, she's dead and she's rotten. Up in the air Sellin' black puddens a penny a pair. After she was finally apprehended in 1872, some estimated that she may have killed as many as 21 people, according to Britannica. 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. 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. He died in 1872 from gastric fever soon after amending his will in Mary Anns favor. [7] The drama was inspired by the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by David Wilson, a criminologist. 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. She soon leftor was thrown outand was for a time homeless. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. One month later, when James' baby died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England where they had, and lost, three more children. 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. Isabella, also succumbed to gastric fever soon after amending his will in Mary Anns favor Mary was. For comfort and she was sentenced to hang, the 7-year-old Charles,... The London Rifles her plans time homeless 's body was delivered to her plans that! 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