The Story of Murderer Mary Ann Cotton

Mary Ann Cotton was a 19th century Englishwoman who was hung for the murder of her young stepson. She is also believed to have killed many others in her lifetime including her mother, her children, her husbands, a friend and a boyfriend.

Mary Ann Cotton,
She's dead and she's rotten
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? Up in the air
Sellin' black puddens a penny a pair.

Secrets Revealed
In 1872, a small boy named Charles Edward Cotton succumbed to a strange, sudden ailment and died. Days before, his stepmother, Mary Ann Cotton, had predicted his demise. "He'll go like the rest of the Cottons," she'd told a parish official.

"No, nothing of the kind," the official replied "he is a fine, healthy boy." Five days later, the boy was gone. Rather than head to the doctor, Mrs. Cotton went to the insurance office. The suspicious official headed for the police. He put a hold on the death certificate until the matter could be investigated.

When he did, a series of terrible crimes was unearthed.

Beginnings
Mary Ann Robson was born to a poor family in County Durham in England in October 1832. Her family went hungry. Soon after the family moved to a town called Murton, her father fell to his death down a mine shaft- a 150 ft drop.

When Mary Ann was 14, her mother married a man named Robert Stott, whom the teenager didn't like. She moved out and got as a nurse when she was 16, working for three years.

And then she met one of her victims.

Mrs. Mowbray
Mary Ann Robson married William Mowbray when she was 20 years old. The two lived in Plymouth, Devon. They had five children in Plymouth- and every single one of them died of gastric ailments.

Eventually they moved North East and had three more children- they didn't last long either. Finally, William Mowbray himself began to have stomach troubles. He died in January 1865, leaving his grieving widow an insurance payout of 35 pounds- the equivalent of a year's wages.

Mrs. Ward
Back in County Durham, rich and widowed, Mary Ann Robson Mowbray had a fling with a man named Joseph Nattrass who was already engaged. At this time, Mary Ann still had two children left, but her 3 year old died leaving her with 1 child, whom she sent to live with her mother.

She began nursing again and met a patient named George Ward. They married in August 1865.By October 1866, he had succumbed to a terrible stomach illness. His death surprised his doctor with it's suddenness and Mary Ann was once again "surprised" with a fat check.

Mrs. Robinson
In November 1866, Mary Ann Robson Mowbray Ward was hired to work as a housekeeper in the home of a recently widowed shipwright named James Robinson in Sunderland. One month later, James Robinson's one month old baby died of stomach ailment.

In his grief, he was comforted by Mary Ann. This comfort led to Mary Ann getting pregnant, after which she had to rush back to County Durham to tend to her ailing mother. Mother began to improve for a little while- until her stomach started hurting. 9 days after Mary Ann came, her mother died.

Mary Ann brought her child back with her. Soon after, the child and two of James Robinson's children died . All three of them were buried in April 1867.

Mary Ann married Mr. Robinson four months later and had her baby in November. The baby was gone by March of 1868. In the meantime, she had been hounding her new husband to get some insurance. It turned out that Mary Ann had debts totaling 60 pounds and even stolen money from him. She even had his children pawn things out of his house.

Maybe he didn't know it, but he was saving his own life when he threw her out of the house.

Mrs. Cotton...Sort Of
Frederick Cotton was the brother of a friend- a recently widowed pitman with two out of his four children dead. The two remaining children were Frederick Jr and Charles. Cotton's sister, who introduced him to Mary Ann, died of a mysterious stomach ailment in March 1870. Once again, Mary Ann comforted a grieving man and got pregnant.

They married in September 1870- illegally, since Mary Ann was technically still married to James Robinson. soon after, their son Robert was born in 1871. Soon after, Joseph Nattrass re-entered Mary Ann's life and that December, Frederick Cotton exited. Dead by gastric fever, with an insurance policy hanging over his head.

Nattrass began lodging with Mary Ann and she began seeing a man named John Quick-Manning, becoming pregnant with her 12th child. Cotton's children were still left. After he had revised his will, leaving money to Mary Ann, Nattrass, too began to have stomach pains and he too died. Frederick Cotton Jr died soon after.

Then came Charles Edward and Mary Ann's reign of terror was over. It was during her
sensational trial, that all the previous marriages and possible murders came to light. The trial came about after a sample from little Charles Cotton tested positive for arsenic and he was exhumed. Mary Ann insisted that he had died from arsenic in the wallpaper. After 90 minutes deliberation, the jury found her guilty.

At Durham County Gaol on March 24, 1873, Mary Ann Robson Mowbray Robinson Cotton was hung for the crime of murder. The executioner miscalculated and she died slowly and painfully for the death of Charles Cotton.

How She Got Away With It For So Long

In those days, child deaths weren't abnormal. Half of the population never lived to see 20- three quarters of them never saw 40. Mothers in those days would feed their babies a mix of flour and water, which they didn't know would make the baby sick. Babies with upset stomachs were so common,, that none of Mary Ann's poor infants seemed unusual.

Did Mary Ann Cotton kill all of those people?
It's uncertain. Odds are, that many of them died of natural causes- life in Victorian England was rough. Still, she will go down in history as a serious Femme Fatale- one of the most prolific female serial killers who ever lived.

SOURCES:
Trutv Crime Library: Women Who Kill part One By Katharine Ramsland http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/women/women1/4.html

Wikipedia: Mary Ann Cotton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cotton