Mary Ann Cotton
| Mary Ann Cotton | |
|---|---|
Cotton, c. 1870
|
|
| Born |
Mary Ann Robson 31 October 1832 Low Moorsley, County Durham, England |
| Died | 24 March 1873 (aged 40) Durham Gaol, England |
| Cause of death | Hanging |
| Occupation | Dressmaker, nurse, housekeeper |
| Criminal penalty | Death by hanging |
| Killings | |
| Victims | up to 21 |
| Country | England |
| Weapons | Arsenic |
|
Date apprehended
|
1873 |
Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted and hanged for the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies, and many others. She may have murdered as many as 21 people, including 11 of her 13 children. She chiefly used arsenic poisoning, causing gastric pain and rapid decline of health.
Mary Ann Robson was born on 31 October 1832 at Low Moorsley (now part of Hetton-le-Hole in the City of Sunderland), to Michael Robson, a colliery sinker, and Margaret, née Londsale, and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November. Her sister, Margaret, was born in 1834 but lived only a few months. Her brother, Robert, was born in 1835.
When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton. At the time of her trial, The Northern Echo published an article containing a description of Mary Ann as given by her childhood Wesleyan Sunday school superintendent at Murton, describing her as "a most exemplary and regular attender", "a girl of innocent disposition and average intelligence" and "distinguished for her particularly clean and tidy appearance."
Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell 150 feet (46 m) to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. As the miner's cottage they inhabited was tied to Michael's job the widow and children would have been evicted. In 1843, her mother married George Stott (1816-1895), also a miner. At the age of 16, Mary Ann left home to become a nurse at the nearby village of South Hetton, in the home of Edward Potter, a manager at Murton colliery. After all of the children had been sent to boarding school in Darlington over the next three years, she returned to her step-father's home and trained as a dressmaker.
...
Wikipedia