She named the child as Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton. THE baby was the daughter born to Mary Ann Cotton, of West Auckland, in Durham jail on January 7, 1873. Margaret had acted as substitute mother for the remaining children, Frederick Jr. and Charles. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here. Lyrics: Mary Ann Cotton, Dead and forgotten 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? Richard Quick Mann was a custom and excise man specialising in breweries and has been found in the records and this may indeed be the real name of Mary Ann Cotton's alleged lover. Rumour turned to suspicion and forensic inquiry. She told Riley that Charles was ill and that she would not be troubled for long and that the boy would go like the rest of the cottons. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft; she ultimately died not from her neck breaking but by strangulation caused by the rope being cut too short. 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. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever, and died — just after revising his will in Mary Ann’s favour. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. He died in a field hospital on November 4 – a week before the armistice. 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 claimed to have used arrowroot to relieve his illness and said Riley had made accusations against her because she had rejected his advances. She was coming home to Durham, and to her adoptive parents, pregnant with her third child. But in late March 1870 Margaret died from an undetermined stomach ailment, leaving Mary Ann to console the grieving Frederick Sr. During this time, her 3½-year-old daughter died, leaving her with one child out of the nine she had borne. In the space of a month Belle's baby, Natrass and Frederick's son all died in the house. James Robinson was a shipwright at Pallion, Sunderland, whose wife, Hannah, had recently died. Mary complained that the last surviving Cotton boy, Charles Edward was in the way. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill so she immediately went to her. The mother who murdered her own children was, though, a sensational story, and the media of the day – led by The Northern Echo’s famous editor, WT Stead – whipped up feelings against her. Although her mother started getting better, she also began to complain of stomach pains. He died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. He went to the police, who arrested Mary Ann and ordered the exhumation of Charles' body. As with all nursery rhymes passed on primarily by word of mouth, there are variations. The census revealed that her boys were working underground – William was a collier and John was a pony driver. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft. The trial got going on March 3 and Mary Ann was found guilty of the one murder four days later. Five days after, Mary Ann informed Riley that Charles had died. Oh what can I sing? She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox, John Quick-Manning. He is buried in Cambrai cemetery. It is believed that he was killed in a railway accident. He, however, was engaged to another woman and she left Seaham after Nattrass’s wedding. The gentle-looking … She was finally charged with murder but the trial got delayed until she delivered her final child. It may well be that the name of the excise man was in fact Richard Quick Mann. 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. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. The only birth recorded by 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 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. Of Mary Ann's 13 children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith (1873–1954) and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson. Both of Mary Ann Cotton’s grandsons have their names engraved on Ferryhill War Memorial. In 1869 Robinson discovered that Mary Ann was stealing from him, and he grew suspicious of her repeated requests that he take out a life insurance policy. It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies, and many others.… Mary Ann Robson was born in 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. Mary left Seaham after Joseph's wedding and returned to Sunderland, where her 3 year old daughter died, leaving only one surviving child, Isabella, whom she sent to live with her mother. 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. Soon her eleventh pregnancy was underway. Sister of Robert Robson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cotton. An army of readers – many anonymous, others marshalled by Tim Brown of Ferryhill Local History Society – and some relatives have helped put us right. It is clear to see that the deaths of the men were suspicious, to say the least. Several petitions were presented to the Home Secretary, but to no avail. His name is carved with countless thousands of others on the Menin Gate at Ypres. For decades, children were taught and sang the sadistic and evil words that immortalized the death of Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the “Monster in Human Shape.” Homely and plain looking in baggy dresses and an ill-fitting bonnet, Mary Ann Cotton did not rely on her forgettable appearance to ensnare men, rather used wit and the magic of simple grace to appeal to her many lovers. When Mary Ann christened the baby with its distinctive surname, it identified the father. 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. George and Margaret Stott took up residence in California Street at an unknown number and in the summer of 1865 took in Mary Ann’s only surviving child, Isabella Mowbray, aged 6. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft; she died, not from her neck breaking, but by strangulation caused by the rope being rigged too short, possibly deliberately. Soon after the move her father fell 150 feet (46 m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton Colliery. SO how guilty was Mary Ann Cotton? Her step-father immediately took up with his neighbour who was also widowed and so Mary Ann’s eldest surviving child Isabella was brought back to … He threw her out. ©Copyright 2001-2021. Of Mary Ann’s thirteen children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson. The jury retired for 90 minutes before finding Mary Ann guilty. 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. Frederick followed his predecessors to the grave in December of that year, from “gastric fever." After Frederick's death, Nattrass soon became Mary Ann’s lodger. He didn’t. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. Mary Ann Cotton’s trial, for allegedly murdering her stepson Charles, was delayed for several months so that she could give birth. 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. 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 Britain’s most prolific mass murderer until Harold Shipman. This was an embarrassment for Mr Quick-Manning, who appears to have changed his name and fled. At the age of 16, she moved out to become a nurse at Edward Potter's home in the nearby village of South Hetton. Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string Where, where? She was 40 years old, and would become known as Britain's first serial killer: In her wake she left up to 21 dead, including 11 of her 13 children, three of … Biografie. However, in April 1867 the girl and two of Robinson’s children died. Cause of death: Hanging, Capital punishment - Mar 24 1873 - Durham, England, Oct 31 1832 - Low Moorsley (now part of Houghton-le-Spring in the City of Sunderland), William Mowbray, George Ward, James Robinson, Isabella Mowbray, Mary Isabella Robinson, Robert Cotton, Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton, Circa 1832 - Low Moorsley, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, Mar 24 1873 - Durham Gaol, Durham, County Durham, England, United Kingdom, Frederick Cotton, Charles E Cotton, Robert Cotton, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, Deptford, County Durham, England, United Kingdom, Durham, County Durham, England, United Kingdom, Low Moorsley, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Fletcher Kell, Birth of Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Fletcher Kell. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. The defence at Mary Ann's trial claimed that Charles died from inhaling arsenic used as a dye in the green wallpaper of the Cotton home. But when their son, William, was born a few months after their arrival, his place of birth was listed as Imperial County in California – a desert through which canals were being dug to create farmland. Mary Ann Cotton (born Mary Ann Robson in October 1832 in Low Moorsley, County Durham – died 24 March 1873) was an English woman convicted of murdering her children and believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning. William became a foreman at South Hetton Colliery and then a fireman aboard a steam vessel. Up in the air Selling black pudding a penny a pair.-Children’s nursery rhyme. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. She was born Mary Ann Cotton. She was employed in various jobs, including Sunday school teacher and nurse, was married four times (once bigamously, with three of them dying suddenly) and had 13 children (11 didn’t survive). She was charged with his murder, although the trial was delayed until after the delivery of her last child in Durham Gaol on 10 January 1873, whom she named Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton. William and John went off to fight. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. Up in the air Selling black pudding a penny a pair.-Children’s nursery rhyme On this date in 1873, prolific poisoner Mary Ann Cotton — whom some have tabbed Britain’s first serial killer for an arsenic murder spree claiming 21 or so souls — hanged at Durham County Gaol. 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. The ship’s manifest shows they were bound for Pennsylvania – a coalmining area where Joseph presumably planned to find work. Mary Ann Cotton murdered 21 people, including 11 of her own children and stepchildren, three husbands and her own mother. Mary Ann Cotton was born on Halloween 1832 at Low Moorsley, a County Durham village which is now part of modern-day Houghton-le-Spring. Frederick and Mary Ann were bigamously married on 17 September 1870 at St Andrew's, Newcastle Upon Tyne and their son Robert was born early in 1871. English Serial Killer Mary Ann Cotton By James Donahue Among the annuals of the world’s most evil people lies the name of Mary Ann Cotton, an English woman who was hung in 1873 after being found guilty of poisoning three husbands, two lovers, her mother, at least eight of her own children and probably more than the 21 known victims. Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. The defense in the case was handled by Mr. Thomas Campbell Foster. That left behind Mary, her stepson Charles Cotton, and Mary Ann's 13 child still growing in her womb. Soon she became pregnant by him with her twelfth child. 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. They married in Monkwearmouth on 28 August 1865. Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. She sent her surviving child, Isabella, to live with he… However, in light of all that was brought out during the three day trial, public opinion was that Mary Ann … With this baby still in nappies, Joseph disappeared. There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. Tried and convicted for the wilful murder of her step-son Charles Edward Cotton, with further allegations that she poisoned up to 15 members of her family. In August, Mary Ann married Robinson, and the couple had two children, though only one survived. Mary Ann’s trial was delayed due to her pregnancy and her child was born on January 7, 1873 and named Edith Quick Manning Cotton. She is strongly suspected of 14 or 15 murders, either for gain or to enable her to marry or both, and 21 people who were close to her died over a 20 year period. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. He continued to suffer ill health; he died in October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England where they had, and lost, three more children. She was charged with his murder, although the trial was delayed until after the delivery of her last child in Durham Gaol on 10 January 1873, whom she named Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton. Mary Ann Cotton also had her own nursery rhyme of the same title, sung after her hanging on March 24, 1873. [wc_box color=”info” text_align=”left”] So, here are some recap facts: (a) Mary Ann Cotton was a poisoner. Mary Ann Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. Memories is aware that there are quite a lot of direct descendants of Mary Ann Cotton living in our area, and we’ve been asked to let their sleeping dogs lie. 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. During this time, her 3½-year-old daughter, (the second) Margaret Jane, died of typhus fever, leaving her with one child of up to nine she had borne. Up in the air Sellin' black puddens a penny a pair. Mary Ann’s first port of call after Charles' death was not the doctor’s but the insurance office. There appears to be no trace of John Quick-Manning in the records of The West Auckland Brewery or The National Archives at Kew. The couple had five children, four of whom died from gastric fever. She was born in 1832 in the village of Low Moorsley in Tyne and Wear, Northern England. Their child, Mary Isabella, was born that November, but she became ill with stomach pains and died in March 1868. Mary Ann Cotton, née Robson, was born in 1832 to poor teenage parents who moved frequently so that her father, a miner, could find work. Although her father fell down a … He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. Mary Ann Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money from her husband's death. A mortar shell exploded over his head and no trace was ever found of his body. Riley went to the village police and convinced the doctor to delay writing a death certificate until the circumstances could be investigated. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she would have to accompany him. Mary Ann Cotton’s trial, for allegedly murdering her stepson Charles, was delayed for several months so that she could give birth. As one witness quoted in Mary Ann Cotton put it, Nattrass "died in a fit" and was "in great agony." He went to the police, who arrested Mary Ann and ordered the exhumation of Charles' body. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: “I won’t be troubled long. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. 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 Britain’s most notorious killers. Her family describe her as being “immensely private, intelligent, warm and kind-hearted, and a devoted wife, mother and grandmother”. 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. 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