Mary Ann Cotton England’s First Female Serial Killer

Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 - 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. 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. 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 infant—who was reportedly her 13th child—and another offspring were the only ones to outlive their mother. Mary Ann's trial began two months later, and the defense claimed that the deceased had inhaled.

Mary Ann Cotton Biography Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements

Britain's First Serial Killer, Mary Ann Cotton. Lilla Cabot Perry/Los Angeles County Museum of Art Cotton ultimately killed 16 children and five men. Born in 1832 in Durham county, England, Mary Ann Cotton worked as a nurse and dressmaker before she married William Mowbray in 1852. But in 1856, the young family had experienced tragedy, when. 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. Mary was only ever convicted of one murder, the poisoning with arsenic of her 7-year-old stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. But more than a dozen close friends and relatives of. Mary Ann Cotton was a notorious 19th-century serial killer. She became known as the "Black Widow." Her chosen poison was the tasteless and aroma free arsenic. She carefully added arsenic to her teapot before pouring her unsuspecting victims a good old British cuppa. Then she claimed their life insurance policy payouts. About the Show. This drama tells the extraordinary true story of Victorian poisoner Mary Ann Cotton, played by Golden Globe winner and Emmy award nominee Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey).

Mary Ann Cotton Biography Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements

Childhood & Early Life. Mary Ann Cotton was born in a small village in North England on 31st October 1832, to a miner father who died while Mary was just 8. The mother had to take care of three children, while suffering with the depression owing to her husband's death. Mary's mother remarried a few years later, but Mary hated her stepfather. In fact, that title goes to Mary Ann Cotton. At the time of her 1873 hanging for the murder of her fourth husband's son, the 40-year-old Cotton was known to have committed at least 21 murders,. The story of Victorian-age poisoner Mary Ann Cotton was largely unremembered before in 2017 becoming the subject of an ITV drama called Dark Angel. Mary Ann Cotton's murder trial was a Victorian sensation, and courtroom artists depicted her as a sinister old hag, despite the fact she was only in her late 30s at the time.

Here are all the most famous Victorian female serial killers Film Daily

Mary Ann Cotton was charged with the murder of Charles Cotton, Joseph Nattrass, Frederick Cotton and Robert Ronson Cotton although she was eventually tried only for the murder of her stepson, Charles. Mary denied murder but she was found guilty on March 8 1873 and sentenced to death. Having already given birth to her final child, a girl, in. The story of Mary Ann Cotton, at first glance, mirrors that of the typical Black Widow; a woman who murders her husbands for financial reward. Known as the 'Dark Angel' and the 'West Auckland Poisoner', the case of Mary Ann Cotton is a popular one within historical true crime. Arrested and charged with the murder of her 7-year-old. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged on 24 March 1873 in Durham Prison. Public executions had ended by then, so only a few observers saw the botched hanging. The rope was too short and she died painfully by. Mary Ann Cotton in her black and white checked shawl. The reporter then learned that on her day of death, Mrs Cotton had woken at 3.30am. She had had a cup of tea at 5.30am saying that she couldn.

Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton's possessions on display BBC News

Mary Ann Cotton. ©. www.maryanncotton.co.uk A.D.1999, 2010 & 2023. An intriguing insight into a question of law and forensics. A brief investigation into the trial and execution of Mary Ann Cotton. 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. Mary Ann Cotton, also known as the Dark Angel, was a serial killer who murdered up to 21 people, including her own children, mainly by poisoning them with arsenic. She was eventually found guilty.