Britain’s first and most notorious female serial killer

Mary Ann Cotton went down in criminal history as Britain’s first and, at the same time, most notorious female serial killer. The former nurse is believed to have killed between 14 and 20 people over a period of two decades using arsenic, driven purely by greed. Before Mary Ann killed her victims, she took out life insurance policies on them, which she then cashed in. Mary Ann spared neither her four husbands, nor her lover, nor her own children and stepchildren. But who was this cold-blooded murderer, who had so many lives on her conscience that she would certainly have earned an entry in the Guinness Book of Records had it existed at the time? Mary Ann Cotton was born in October 1832 as Mary Ann Robson, the first daughter of Michael and Margaret Robson, in Low Moorsley. When she was eight years old, her family moved to County Durham. Mary Ann spent her youth there. When her father died in a mining accident in 1842, her mother and Mary Ann, who were living in a workers’ flat, became homeless. Mary Ann’s mother soon remarried in order to secure a roof over their heads once more. In 1852, the 20-year-old Mary Ann married the 26-year-old labourer William Mowbray, with whom she had nine children; however, all of them except her daughter Isabella died one by one. Between 1857 and 1872, several doctors recorded the cause of death as ‘gastric fever’. Despite the many deaths, no one harboured even the slightest suspicion that Mary Ann might have had anything to do with them. Even when her husband William died in January 1864 and Mary Ann collected his life insurance payout of 35 pounds sterling, this did not strike anyone as odd. After William’s death, Mary Ann placed her daughter Isabella in the care of her mother, Margaret. Mary Ann moved to Sunderland, where she worked as a nurse. At the hospital, she met 32-year-old Georg Ward, who was suffering from cancer, and married him in August 1865. He died just one year later of gastric fever. Georg left Mary Ann a large sum from his life insurance policy. In 1866, Mary Ann found a job as a housekeeper with the shipbuilder James Robinson. Just one month later, the Robinsons’ baby died. Mary Ann lovingly looked after James, with whom she began a fling and promptly became pregnant. When Mary Ann’s mother Margaret, now 54 years old, fell ill shortly afterwards, Mary Ann travelled to be with her in 1867. Nine days later, Margaret had passed away. Mary Ann returned to James, whose two children, James and Elizabeth, as well as his daughter Isabella, had all died suddenly. Isabella’s life insurance policy naturally went to Mary Ann. In August 1867, James finally married Mary Ann; their daughter, Margaret Isabelle, died shortly after birth. In June 1869, their son George was born, and Mary Ann wanted to take out a life insurance policy on him. However, James had become suspicious and began to investigate Mary Ann. He discovered that she had embezzled money and pawned furniture, whereupon he threw her out of the house. She had to leave without George, whom James kept with him. Shortly afterwards, Mary Ann met Frederik Cotton, and from then on she looked after his two children. In September 1870, Mary Ann married him. Shortly afterwards, their son Robert was born. In December 1871, Frederik died, and his children followed soon afterwards. Naturally, Mary Ann was the beneficiary of all the life insurance policies. She had quickly found a new husband, whom she persuaded to name her as sole heir in his will. However, when seven-year-old Charles Edward, the last surviving son of her late husband, died, suspicion fell on Mary Ann. So many deaths could not be a coincidence. A local council official investigated Mary Ann, and soon afterwards the local newspapers also took notice of her, as she had lost numerous family members to typhoid fever. Something was clearly amiss. Eventually, arsenic poisoning was identified as the cause of death of Mary Ann’s stepson, Charles Edward Cotton, following which her last husband and the other children were exhumed. They, too, had been poisoned with arsenic. Mary Ann, who was pregnant by a new lover, was arrested. In January 1873, she gave birth to her 13th child, her daughter Margaret Edith, in Durham Gaol. Just two months later, Mary Ann was indicted by the Durham Assize Court. For legal reasons, she was sentenced to death by hanging solely for the murder of her stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. Mary Ann Cotton’s execution took place on 24 March 1873 at Durham County Prison, carried out by the executioner William Calcraft. As the rope was too short, a malfunction during the execution meant that Mary Ann’s neck did not snap immediately; she was instead slowly strangled. Karma is a bitch. Following Mary Ann Cotton’s execution on 24 March 1873, a nursery rhyme was written about her, which goes as follows: “Mary Ann Cotton, she’s dead and she’s rotten. She lies in bed with her eyes wide open. Sing, sing! Oh, what shall I sing? Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with a string. Where, where? High up in the air. Black pudding sells for a penny a pair. Mary Ann Cotton, she’s dead and forgotten. She lies in bed with rotten bones. Sing, sing! What can I sing? Mary Ann Cotton, tied up with string!” To this day, there is a wealth of literature and film material about Britain’s first female serial killer, Mary Ann Cotton, who ultimately got what she deserved.