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. Mary (Robson) Cotton is Notable. She enjoyed crafting, hosting ceramics classes for many years, creating scrapbooks of family memories, and making special cards for every occasion. However, the levels of arsenic discovered in Charles' remains were too high to pin it on the wallpaper. 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. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Authorities also exhumed the bodies of Nattrass and two other Cotton children, and all were determined to have been poisoned with arsenic. 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. Cotton asked the man to circulate a petition in yet another attempt to save her, which did happen, yet it had no real effect on her ultimate fate. She also began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, History Collection reports, though the affair never resolved into marriage. Daily Mirror. Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the Dark Angel, was a Victorian monster who murdered up to 21 people. He didnt. English serial killer Mary Ann Cotton, born October 31, 1832, and was hanged to death on March 24, 1873, for murdering her stepson Charles Edward Cotton by poisoning him. Memories is aware that there are quite a lot of direct descendants of Mary Ann Cotton living in our area, and weve been asked to let their sleeping dogs lie. Robinson, meanwhile, had become suspicious of his wife's insistence that he insure his life; he discovered that she had run up debts of 60 behind his back and had stolen more than 50 that she was supposed to have put in the bank. Frederick Jr. died in March 1872 and the infant Robert soon after. 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. It may well be that the name of the excise man was in fact Richard Quick Mann. One of the more chilling legacies of Cotton's time on Earth is a children's nursery rhyme. Just one grandparent can lead you to many 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. Why arsenic, though? He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. One month later, when James' baby died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. Mary Ann Cotton was an English serial killer convicted of poisoning her stepson Charles Edward Cotton in 1872. After three minutes, she died of strangulation. Soon after, Mary Ann learnt that her former lover, Joseph Nattrass, was living in the nearby village of West Auckland, and no longer married. According to the RadioTimes, a local Doctor Kilburn conducted a rushed inquest and determined that the boy had died of gastroenteritis. 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. Mary Ann's daughter Isabella 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. She sent her remaining child, Isabella, to live with her mother. Insurance had been effected on his life and those of his sons. For weeks they have been Hell go like all the rest of the Cottons.. Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. Soon enough, Margaret died of a mysterious gastrointestinal ailment, allowing Mary Ann to get closer to Frederick. An examination ultimately revealed the presence of arsenic in his stomach. Although her father fell down a THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. Riley went to the village police and convinced the doctor to delay writing a death certificate until the circumstances could be investigated. Mary Ann Cotton, ne Mary Ann Robson, also known as Mary Ann Mowbray, Mary Ann Ward, and Mary Ann Robinson, (born October 31?, 1832, Low Moorsley, Durham county, Englanddied March 24, 1873, Durham county), British nurse and housekeeper who was believed to be Britain's most prolific female serial killer. She was employed in various jobs, including Sunday school. 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. By . What clouds hung over the family? Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. According to Mary Ann Cotton, Cotton wed Robinson in 1867. He was also a widower who had lost two of his four children and lived in Northumberland. One of her youngest relatives who lives today in London is Carla. MARGARET was born in Durham jail, the daughter of serial poisoner MARY ANN COTTON (nee ROBSON). However, he died the following year, and Mary Ann reportedly collected money from another insurance policy. After the death of Mowbray, Mary Ann moved once again. 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. He died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. 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. As she was sentenced to hang, the second hearing fizzled out. The ships manifest shows they were bound for Pennsylvania a coalmining area where Joseph presumably planned to find work. When she 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. Here's the messed-up truth about this notorious 19th century murderess. Death of Charles Edward Cotton and inquest, 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. Accessed 14 August 2015. Only two of her children survived her, including this new arrival. 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. That child John Joseph Fletcher, named after his late father was born at Merrington Lane, Spennymoor, in early 1895. 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 came back home three years later, taking up work as a dressmaker. She apparently wanted to give Quick-Manning the dubious honor of becoming husband number five. The following year Mary Ann went to visit her ailing mother, who died about a week after her return. 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. 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. Mary Ann received a life-insurance payment of 5 10s 6d for Isabella. Perhaps this is what caused the young family, in May 1893, to sail from Liverpool on RMS Umbria to New York for a new life. They married in September 1870, and Frederick died in December 1871 from the ever-present "gastric fever." IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. The life insurance policies were clearly a motive. She grew a dislike of children while working as a housemaid, and this didn't stop once she had children of her own. Although she began a relationship with a man named Joseph Nattrass, she moved once again, this time to Sunderland, after another one of her children died from gastric fever. Daughter of Michael Robson and Margaret Lonsdale After the death of her first husband and the utter decimation of her young family, Mary Ann Cotton took the life insurance money and found work as a nurse. Mary Ann Robson was born on Halloween 1832 in Low Moorsley in County Durham. 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. 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. Russell's appointment over Aspinwall led to a question in the House of Commons. Mary Ann Cottons trial, for allegedly murdering her stepson Charles, was delayed for several months so that she could give birth. 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. 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. She got away with it so long because arsenic was extremely hard to detect as symptoms were often confused with those associated with gastric ailments. As with all nursery rhymes passed on primarily by word of mouth, there are variations. Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. Then he found that Mary Ann had been forcing his older children to pawn household valuables. In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, Dark Angel,[5] starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. Cotton was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. Soon, he found out that she owed 60 and had also stolen 50 she was supposed to put in the bank. The sheer number of children who met their deaths after coming into contact with the murderess exceeded even the juvenile mortality rate of a dangerous time before pediatricians and obstetricians were available to most people in Britain. By the end of the following year Cotton and two more children had died; again Mary Ann reportedly received an insurance payout. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on Charles' life still awaited collection. Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell 150 feet (46m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. 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. Child John Joseph Fletcher, named after his late father was born on Halloween 1832 in Low Moorsley in Durham! 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mary ann cotton surviving descendants