February 2, 2025 • 50 mins
Over two decades, death followed Mary Ann Cotton from town to town. Husbands, children, stepchildren - all perishing under suspicious circumstances. As whisper of arsenic and insurance money grew louder, investigators unraveled one of Britain's earliest documented female serial killers.
In this episode of ClueTrail, we trace the steps of Mary Ann Cotton, Britain first female serial killer - and ask how many deaths it took before anyone stopped her.
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Host (00:00):
Welcome to Clue Trail, the podcast where every story is a
mystery and every clue leads youdeeper into the unknown.
From unsolved crimes andpuzzling disappearances to
hidden histories and curiouscoincidences, we piece together
(00:22):
the fragments to uncover thetruth or raise even more
questions.
Some clues lead to answers,others to even greater
mysteries.
But one thing is certain, everytrail tells a story.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
In the Victorian England, adark shadow lingered over the
(00:54):
industrial towns of theNortheast.
a shadow cast by a seeminglyordinary woman with a deadly
secret.
Mary Ann Cotton, a nurse, awife, and a mother, was also a
calculated poisoner whose crimesshocked the nation.
She was accused of murdering asmany as 21 people, including
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her own children and husbands.
How did a woman who appearedunassuming evade suspicions for
so long?
What drove her to herhorrifying acts?
Today we will unravel thechilling tale of Mary Ann
Cotton, Britain's first femaleserial killer.
So let's begin.
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Mary Ann Cotton was born on31st of October 1832 in Low
Morsley, County Durham, toMargaret and Michael Robson.
Low morsley, in the 1800s, wasa quintessential rural
community, shaped by theIndustrial Revolution and the
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coal mining industry.
Life in the village revolvedaround hard work, tight-knit
social connections, and theever-challenges of living in a
rapidly changing world.
Life was hard in the 19thcentury coal mines, and often
with low wages and dangerousworking conditions.
There is an in-depthdescription of the life in this
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period in the mining towns inDavid Wilson's book on this
case, which was incrediblyinteresting to read.
But to give you a short view,the life embodied the struggles
of the early stages ofindustrial revolution.
Family lived in small cottages,usually two to three rooms, very
overcrowded, where sanitationwas non-existent.
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Most of these homes lacked anyindoor plumbing or running
water, and the poor sanitationwould often lead to outbreaks of
disease.
In 1841, there were around 500people living in the area, a
significant increase from the 98which used to live there
before, and by the 1901, around6,500 people.
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So in these villages would be aconstant coming and going of
families and mining was almostalways a family occupation.
Boys as young as 8 or 10 wouldalready start working in the
mines, in jobs like opening andclosing ventilation doors,
whilst women supported thedomestic work and raising
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children.
So, like many of the men duringthat period, Michael Robson's
job was as a coal miner.
He was known to be a strictdisciplinarian and a devout
Methodist.
Margaret was a homemaker and adevout Methodist as well.
It's been suggested that inMary Ann's life, two men had a
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significant impact on thetrajectory of her story,
although in slightly differentways.
One is her father.
When Mary Ann was nine, tragedystruck her family when her
father died in a miningaccident, leaving the family
destitute.
Her father's dead body wasbrought home in one of the
mining sacks, something thatMarianne witnessed at a very
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young age.
This was a traumatic event,something that no nine-year-old
child should have to witness.
Her childhood was marked bypoverty, loss, and instability,
which in the end contributed toher survival-driven mindset and
emotional detachment.
You might say these earlyexperiences may have planted the
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seeds for the ruthless behaviorshe exhibited later in life,
but...
So many other children had areally hard life during that
period.
More often than not, familieswould struggle to survive.
If hardship would have been thereason, we would have had a
country filled with serialkillers.
Sometimes, people are justevil.
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So with no income now, Margaretand the children were evicted
from the cottage as the housingwas tied to Michael's work at
the mining company.
This only added to thefinancial and emotional strain.
She remarried not long after aman named George Stott.
Mary Ann, during this time,attended the local Methodist
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Sunday school, where she wastaught to read and write, but
generally the education systemwas quite limited in Lomorsley
in the 1800s.
Many children attended few ofthe local schools or Sunday
schools, but generally ended upbeing pulled out of the
education at an early age tocontribute to the family income.
(05:44):
By her teenage years, she leftschool, like many other kids in
that period, and went to work asa nursemaid for a wealthy
family, which was actually thefamily owning the mining
business where her dad passedaway.
I suppose there wouldn't havebeen many other options in the
area, considering majority ofthe inhabitants in the village
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were there to work in the mine.
The house she resided in wasgrander than anything she has
ever seen and in this job shewas exposed to household
management and caregiving skillsthat would later play a role in
her life as a wife, a motherand eventually a serial killer.
Mary Ann worked as a nursemaidfor three years until she
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started training as adressmaker.
Also around this time is whereshe met her first husband
William Mowbray a 35-year-oldman who arrived in the village
as he was interested in theavailable work at the mine.
They got married on 18th ofJuly 1852, when Marianne was 19,
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and it is heavily implied that,although Marianne was a
religious person, they opted fora civil court marriage at a
place 20 miles away from wherethey were residing, instead of a
chapel in the area, as Mariannewas pregnant at the time with a
child.
Not long after this, they movedto Cornwall for about four
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years.
Not a lot is being known oftheir time there or the reason
for relocating, but mostprobably for work at the railway
construction firm.
In Cornwall, they had onechild, a daughter named Margaret
Jane.
There are also several accountsthat suggest that they had
three other children, whichunfortunately died, suspected
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being murdered.
So you're probably wonderingwhy it's being suggested and why
we don't know for certain.
Surely there must have been abirth certificate or any
paperwork really?
Well, none of these births havebeen registered as although
registration was compulsory atthe time, the law was not
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enforced until 1874.
Also many births, marriage anddeath certificates from this
period are more often than notincorrectly filled in.
So we are only relying onundocumented accounts.
The family moved back inMorsley area where William
started working as a storekeeperat the mines.
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And in 1858, they had anotherdaughter named Isabella.
Out of all the children,Isabella is the daughter that
lived the longest.
She was murdered at the age ofnine.
Unfortunately, in 1860, tragedystruck the family as their
first daughter, Margaret Jane,died.
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It is heavily implied thatMarianne killed her daughter
alongside with the otherchildren she had in Cornwall.
However, the cause of death onthe death certificate was listed
as Scarletina Anginosa, so wecannot say for sure.
They had another child in 1861.
one year after Margaret Jane'sdeath, a daughter which they
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actually named Margaret Jane.
This is odd and unusual.
It more certainly feels verycold for a parent to do such
thing.
It's like Margaret Jane, thefirst child, is erased.
I wonder how William agreed tosuch thing.
Lastly, they also had a boy in1863 named Robert, which died
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only a year later from gastricfever.
They moved around a fair amountduring this time, mainly due to
William taking all sorts ofdifferent jobs.
But they settled for some timein Sutherland, where he worked
as a stock on a steamer ship.
William died in January 1865,and according to his death
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certificate, he had succumbed totyphus fever and diarrhea,
which coincidentally, or not,similar symptoms as little
Robert, who died only a yearearlier.
That concludes 12 years ofmarriage between Mary Ann and
William, at least five children,and only two survived until
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this time.
Apparently Mary Ann was seenbeing extremely distraught after
her husband's death, and afterreceiving £35 from the insurance
on him, this would have beenaround £5,000 now, which was
definitely a significant sumback then, she moved with her
two surviving daughters out ofthe Sutherland home to Seaham
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Harbour, a coal port town on thenortheast coast.
During this time, she is knownto have struck a relationship
with a Joseph Notras.
But many are saying this affairhas started while she was
married to William, when he wasat sea, about a year before his
death and the reason she movedafter William's death.
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is to follow Joseph.
Which, if it's true, I wouldsay it also serves a strong
motive on why, after so manyyears, she killed her husband.
It would have been convenientfor her to continue the affair
whilst William was at sea.
But as soon as Josephrelocated, she wouldn't have
been able to persuade William toapprove their family and move.
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There wouldn't have been anyreason to do so.
Therefore, her affair wouldhave ended.
Joseph was actually married atthat time with Catherine
Tempest.
However, it is not sure ifMarianne was aware of this when
she decided to relocate.
It is also during this periodwhen her daughter, Margaret
Jane, died from typhus fever,which was a disease widespread
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in the Siam area, and this couldbe the actual reason for her
death.
But considering typhus symptomscould be confused with gastric
fever, and knowing who thischild's mother is, most likely
Margaret Jane is a victim aswell.
So with no prospect of marriagewith Joseph since he was
already married and withMargaret Jane passing, Anne
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packed up and moved back toSutherland to take a job at the
infirmary.
She also decided to send heronly remaining daughter Isabella
to live with her mother.
This is where she met hersecond husband, George Ward, who
was also working at theinfirmary.
They got married eight monthslater on 28th of August, 1865.
(12:22):
And I get it.
It's so soon after herhusband's death.
But let's go over some aspectsof what life as a woman would
have been back then.
Legally, women's rights wereseverely limited.
They could not vote and couldnot own any property or any
major control over theirfinances.
(12:43):
In 1857, the Matrimonial CausesAct was introduced, which also
limited women's rights overdivorce.
They were denied access to mostprofessions or higher education
and were left under a massivepressure to marry to be able to
have decent living conditions.
So would have been unusualmarrying so shortly after the
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husband's death?
I would say in those livingconditions during that time and
with no real way of beingfinancially independent, no.
Mary Ann has seen this firsthandin her family when her mother
married shortly after her firsthusband's death, most likely to
be able to put a roof over herhead since they were evicted
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from their home.
There are also loads of pointsbeing made that Mary Ann was
good-looking and she would go tohave so many husbands and so
on, painting her like some sortof black widow.
I think nowadays, yes, havingloads of husbands dying after
you marry them would besuspicious, but back then, I
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think just marrying another manshortly after was just normal.
Her marriage to George wasn't avery happy one, this being the
only marriage where there wereno children either, being
heavily speculated that this wasdue to no intimacy, mainly the
issue being word.
I do not know how they got tothis conclusion,
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considering Mary Ann did notmake any mentions in any letters
about this marriage, but itcould have been related to
overall view that she was evil,so therefore sexually
promiscuous.
What is more likely to havehappened is that this, once
more, was a marriage ofconvenience.
This marriage to George wasshort-lived as he died on 20th
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of October 1866 after a longillness characterized by
paralysis and intestinalproblems.
The cause of death recorded onhis death certificate is that of
English cholera and typhoid.
His sudden death came as asurprise for many, including his
attending doctors, but onceagain, Mary Ann collected
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insurance money in respect toher husband's death, and she was
gone.
So, once more, no investigationinto any of these deaths, and
no one seemed to be verysuspicious that one woman could
go through so many losses in herfamily.
Mary Ann moved yet again and inNovember 1866, she was seeking
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employment when she came acrossJames Robinson.
Unfortunately, James' wife hasrecently died and he was looking
for a housekeeper.
Mary Ann, with her experiencein housekeeping from her early
age, settled in quickly into therole.
Death toll started almostimmediately after she moved in
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when two-year-old Johntragically died of gastric
fever.
This was heavily debated and Ihave seen some say the death
being a month after she moved,therefore most likely she had
time to slowly poison the baby,and some say it was as early as
next day, therefore she wouldn'thave had time to poison the
child.
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James was the one to confirmlater on that he doesn't believe
she has poisoned the child ashe died as she arrived.
Again, this is also debated thatshe might have just killed the
baby through other means ormaybe a higher dosage,
considering one of the child'ssymptoms was convulsions, which
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is also related to arsenicpoisoning alongside gastric
issues.
She killed all the kids andhusbands because they were an
inconvenience and she would alsoget an insurance pay.
In this case, she had nothingto win from the little child's
death, at least not at thattime.
After his son's death, Jamessought solace in Mary Ann and
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they immediately started arelationship and she soon became
pregnant.
I n the spring of 1867, tragedyis about to struck again when
Mary Ann's mother, falls illwith hepatitis, prompting her to
go care for her mother.
Her mother showed signs ofimprovement at first, but she
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died nine days after Mary Ann'sarrival.
Everyone was slightly surprisedthat she succumbed to her death
so soon.
It's needless to say what isbeing suspected.
Following this, she returned toRobinson's home, also bringing
her daughter, Isabella, the onlysurviving child from her first
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marriage.
So, nice blended family, youthink, right, with James' two
surviving children and herchild?
Well, no, not really.
Things took a turn for the worstalmost immediately when James'
children, Elizabeth and James,and her child, Isabella,
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developed severe stomach painsand died between late April and
early May 1867.
She received an insurancepayment after Isabella died of
around £5.
Remember I was saying early onthat Isabella is her longest
surviving child?
Well, considering she livedwith her grandmother for some
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time until age 9, it's mostlikely why Isabella was
unharmed.
But as soon as she returned toher mother, her life ended
almost immediately.
Well, even though so muchtragedy happened in such a short
time, this didn't seem to stopMary Ann and James to tie the
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knot four months later.
Their first child together, adaughter named Margaret
Isabella, was born in November.
I am lost for words of how coldthis woman is, naming yet
another child of hers after twoothers who she most likely
murdered.
This daughter also died a monthlater.
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They had yet another childtogether, a boy named George,
born on 18th of June 1869.
Over time, James started to growsuspicious over Mary Ann
insisting in insuring his life.
It's beyond me how he didn'tfind suspicious the immediate
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death of four of his children,her mom, and her other child in
the span of a few months, butinsurance is what made him
suspicious.
He also discovered sheaccumulated some debts and even
resorted to asking his olderchildren to pawn household
items.
Consequently, he decided to endthe relationship luckily before
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their son died as well, and heexpelled her from his home.
She left taking the child withher whilst he went and lived
with one of his sisters for sometime, until later on when
Mary Ann abandoned the littleboy at one of their friends'
house, which then was reunitedwith James.
So Mary Ann, now three timesmarried and no children, ended
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up destitute.
She had several jobs aroundthat time.
She worked in a laundry, in aninfirmary, and she also worked
for her second husband's doctor,Dr.
Hefferman.
That is when her friend at thattime, Margaret Cotton, decided
to introduce her to her brother,Frederick.
He was Mary Ann last husband.
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She kept his name.
He was a recent widower withtwo children, Frederick Jr.
and Charles, having lost twoother children earlier.
These deaths are not attributedto Mary Ann, the wife and
children died prior to herarrival to the house.
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To help with the household, hissister, Margaret, moved in with
Frederick for some time, andaround the same time, Mary Ann
started a relationship withFrederick in the early 1870s.
By April of that year, she waspregnant with his child.
Whilst this was happening,Margaret got sick, experiencing
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severe stomach pains, and sheunfortunately died in March the
same year from pleuralpneumonia.
Symptoms of this disease wouldbe coughing, rapid heartbeat,
and difficulty breathing.
But she also suffered fromnausea, fever, and vomiting.
which are produced by arsenicpoisoning.
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But what reason would Mariannehad to kill Margaret?
If anything, Margaret was anamazing friend and she was
really happy of the relationshipbetween her and her brother.
What I think is that ifMargaret would have still lived
there, she couldn't have gottenaway with what she will do later
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on.
So she killed her.
An interesting point is thatMary Ann left for a short period
of time Frederick's house.
It's unsure why, but she leftand started working for a doctor
in a town nearby, although shewas pregnant with his child at
the time.
She did return by summer thatyear, but not at his house.
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She actually asked for somehelp to rekindle the
relationship from some commonfriends they had.
Everyone thinks they had anargument back in April, right
after his sister's death.
Could have been that the griefof all the death around him was
absolutely crushing and it ledto arguments.
They did restart therelationship and they were
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married on 17th of September ata church in Newcastle.
Later on, when she wasarrested, the only crime she
confessed was to bigamy because,guess what?
At the time she marriedFrederick, she was still married
to James.
(23:09):
The next year, in April 1871,they all packed up the house and
the kids and moved to WestAuckland.
The move to West Auckland wasdone at Marianne's suggestion
as, guess who was living in thearea?
Joseph Natrasse.
She killed almost her entirefamily during her first marriage
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to ensure a straightforwardrelationship with him.
And now, unfortunately, thesame events will unfold once
more, as one year later, theonly Cotton alive would be her.
Once they moved there,Frederick started working as a
hewer at the mines, which isbasically a miner who loosens up
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rock and minerals.
Definitely a hard job.
It's at the same mine JosephNotras was working as well, but
it's most certain Frederick wasnot aware of the relationship
his wife had with him in thepast.
Mary Ann has definitely kept atab on her past lover and she
most likely believed that hermove there would rekindle the
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relationship, which means shealso knew she would kill her
family at that point.
Frederick was to die first atage 40 in September that year
and his cause of death washepatitis and typhoid.
Three months later, JosephNothras moved into her house as
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her lodger.
And to remind you again, allthis is happening whilst she is
still married to James.
So now, after so many years,she would finally be free to
settle and continue herrelationship with Natras,
correct?
No, it's wrong, as she is acomplete psychopath.
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Shortly after Frederick'sdeath, She advertised her
services as a nurse and she wasemployed by a man who suffered
of smallpox.
He was quite a prospect for heras he was not a minor, he
worked as an excise officer at alocal brewery, therefore she
would mingle in differentcircles, and he was a bachelor
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so no children to look after.
She definitely did not want topass an opportunity like this
which would make her move up inthe world.
But she had a problem in formof old children and a trance
now.
My God, she's a cruel womanwith no remorse.
In the course of a month,between March and April, three
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members of her family would die.
First was Frederick Jr., herstepchild, which died of gastric
fever, aka poison with arsenicby a psychopath.
Baby Robert, which was her ownchild with her last husband,
which died of convulsions fromteething, which obviously is not
the correct cause of death.
This breaks my heart.
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That poor child to have such acruel woman as his mum.
And lastly, her lover, JosephNathras.
He died of typhoid fever.
This clearly shows her beingincapable of caring for anyone
at all.
Everyone was there to serve apurpose in her life and when
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they became inconvenient, shewould kill them.
It's also so heartbreaking as Iwas reading through the
neighbor's evidence given to thepolice in regards to Joseph's
death as some of them werepresent trying to help him and
Mary Ann.
He suffered immensely and hisdeath was so painful but the
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part that brought me so muchsadness was that before dying,
Joseph declared he wants her tohave his money and other
belongings, as I quote, She hadbeen his best friend.
This best friend left the bodyof her death child, baby Robert,
in the same room as Joseph, asshe knew he would die soon and
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would have been cheaper to burythem at the same time.
This is how his best friend andlover of so many years was
treating him.
So with now Joseph out of theway, Mary Ann needed to get rid
of the last surviving cottonchild, Charles Edward.
But, surprisingly in this case,she contacted the child's uncle
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to take charge of him, but herefused to do so.
With no other option, she movedout of the house to a smaller
one, a three-story house, takingCharles Edward with her.
During this time, she was alsopregnant with most likely
Quick-Manning child, which isthe man she worked for as a
nurse.
He hasn't proposed or anythingyet, but it's known he has
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forbidden her from taking anymale lodgers in her house, so
she started advertising herservices as a nurse whilst
waiting for a marriage proposal.
Remember in the beginning I saidthat two men impacted heavily
Mary Ann's life?
One was her father, and thesecond one was the man who would
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bring her down.
That is Thomas Riley, which inmy opinion has potentially saved
the life of many people thiswoman might have gotten in
contact with.
As he has seen her advertisingfor a job, he heads over to her
house, as he knew of some workshe might be interested in.
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In here, he has a really oddconversation with Marianne,
which is actually the reason hewent to the police.
When he asked her to take somework, she refused, saying she is
too preoccupied with caring forher stepson and she is unable
to take, in her own words, arespectable lodger in her house.
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Mary Ann, knowing Thomas wasthe assistant overseeing the
poor relief, basically supportgiven to poor families, mainly
through housing, proceeds to askThomas if he can't support her
to have Charles Edward movedinto one of these homes.
Thomas refused, claiming hewill only help if she's ready to
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go with the child as well,which was absolutely against.
Thomas then goes to ask,jokingly, which respectable
lodger is she taking, which willmake her unable to care for the
child?
And was that Quick Manning?
Obviously, gossip was a greatway of entertaining during that
time, not that there were manyother options anyway.
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Mary Ann smiled at his commentand then proceeds to say that it
could be so, but the boy is inthe way, and then she carries on
with...
Perhaps he won't matter as Iwon't be troubled long.
He'll go like all the rest ofthe Cotton family.
All this conversation was heldin front of the child, by the
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way, which is absolutely nuts.
Obviously, Thomas is shocked bywhat she's saying and he goes
to clarify, do you mean he willdie?
Which she replies to, he'llknock it up.
I don't think he actuallybelieved her at that time, and
he probably thought she's angryby the fact that he refused to
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help with having the boy sent toa home.
But six days later, he comesacross Mary Ann, which seemingly
seems distressed, and she tellshim little Charles Edward is
dead.
Thomas went andreported Mary Ann to the police,
to Sergeant Hutchinson, whichthen immediately contacted the
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doctor who was caring for thelittle boy.
Dr.
Kilburn luckily did not releasea death certificate by that
point, and from there, thewheels finally started turning,
as the doctor immediatelycontacted the coroner's office
and a post-mortem was scheduled.
Mary Ann already started beingsuspicious about Riley and what
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he said to the police, and hersuspicions were confirmed when
Dr.
Kilburn wouldn't release adeath certificate, which,
without it, Mary Ann couldn'tcash in the insurance she had on
the little boy.
After all these were in place,Sergeant Hutchinson went and
informed Mary Ann of theinvestigation and the
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post-mortem being scheduled, butshe seemed unfazed by this
development.
She absolutely believed shewould get away with it.
I mean, why wouldn't she whenthis happened so many times
before?
And you know what?
She did, at least for the firstpart of the investigation.
The post-mortem took place at apublic house next to Mary Ann's
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house.
Dr.
Kilburn conducted thispost-mortem, but for some
reason, he didn't have time tobe extremely thorough.
Meanwhile, the jury, which was agroup of doctors and a coroner,
were gathering at the pub toawait for Dr.
Kilburn with the findings anddiscuss if the death was indeed
(32:21):
suspicious.
When he arrived and presentedthe case, he was hesitant to lay
any suspicious findings andclaim it to be potentially
gastric fever.
The jury then debated for sometime and returned after one hour
with the verdict that the boyhas died of natural causes.
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So Mary Ann was cleared.
Can you believe how cocky shemust have felt?
Well, cocky enough toimmediately write to Thomas
Riley saying, to get help withthe funeral costs through the
fund he was managing, as sheapparently ran out of money.
Thomas, being absolutelyamazing, helped immediately and
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little Charles Edward wasfinally laid to r est.
I was thinking, how could thedoctor be so wrong?
But I think I'm comparingmedicine today with the medicine
they would have practiced 150years ago.
I am not defending Dr.
Kilburn as he should have spentmore time during this
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post-mortem instead of rushingthrough it, but I wonder if he
would have been able torecognize the poison if he
hasn't seen it before.
During that time, this was nota procedure they would usually
do.
If anything, they would rarelydo post-mortems.
in a time where typhoid wasspreading everywhere and also
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the conditions they were livingin back then, the food and lack
of sanitation, I'm not surprisedhe did not suspect it or looked
further at that time.
So, Mary Ann, now child-freeand not under official
investigation, is now free toget on with her life and cement
her relationship with QuickManning.
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However, we now finally startto see a bit of karma as her
name was getting dragged throughthe mud in their community
after the post-mortem.
People were speculating.
Also, Thomas Riley carried onpressing for action with the
police, knowing something is notright with all these people's
(34:30):
deaths.
All the gossip and rumourdidn't do any good for her
relationship as Quick Manninghas distanced himself from her
and their child.
I get not wanting to doanything with her, but you still
have a responsibility for thechild when it's born.
Mary Ann, now left pennilessand extremely unpopular, was the
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subject of the town gossip.
She would have already moved toa different town by now, but
she got rid of all the lodgersfor quick money, and there was
no way she would have been hiredin that town as a nurse,
considering all the rumors.
She got a lodger in the end andshe also had to sell almost all
her furniture to him.
(35:13):
Around the same time, she alsogot sick with a sore throat.
Dr.
Kilburn and Dr.
Chalmers both refused to comesee her.
Dr.
Kilburn, again following onThomas Riley's insistence,
finally got around to complete achemical test as part of the
(35:34):
post-mortem.
He conducted various chemicaltests on the stomach contents of
Charles Edward.
After this, he indeeddiscovered that the child was
fed the white powder and he wasin fact murdered by his
stepmother.
That night, after he was done,he went straight to the police
station and reporting thesefindings to Superintendent John
(35:57):
Henderson.
Finally, the following day,Mary Ann was arrested and her
house was searched.
I can't even imagine the reliefThomas Riley must have felt
then.
His insistence in pressing thepolice and the doctor might have
very well saved the life ofanother two.
(36:17):
Based on Mary Ann's record andhow much little regard she had
for her children or her husband,she most likely would have
killed Quick Manning and theirchild if they were becoming an
inconvenience or she would havefound a better prospect.
After her arrest, her house wasthoroughly searched as well,
(36:38):
but the search produced verylittle.
They found some pills, some redpowder, and arrowroot, which
was mainly used for baking.
Whilst she remained in policecustody, the Justice's clerk at
Bishop Auckland requestedpermission to exhume Charles
Edward's body, which was granteda week later.
Meanwhile, Dr.
(37:00):
Kilburn, Dr.
Chalmers, and SuperintendentHutchinson took the rest of the
evidence taken from CharlesEdward's body, such as stomach
contents and viscera, andbottled them, and sent them to a
doctor, Thomas Scattergood, ata forensic medicine in Leeds.
Upon investigation, Dr.
Thomas found evidence ofarsenic all over the samples.
(37:26):
Mary Ann appeared twice beforethe Bishop of Auckland
magistrates, first one on August21st, 1872, just over a month
after she was arrested, and thena year later in February.
In August, she only faced thecharge of Charles Edward murder
by administering arsenic.
In February, she was alsocharged with the murders of
(37:49):
Joseph Nathras, Frederick CottonJr., and her 14-month-old son,
Robert Cotton.
All their bodies were exhumedand arsenic was found.
By that time, Mary Ann alsogave birth to her daughter with
quick money on January 1973.
It came to the impressionduring court proceedings that
(38:11):
Mary Ann was behaving like adutiful mother.
Obviously, we know she is farfrom that.
Her lawyers were absolutelydeplorable and she did not have
a capable defense.
Her lawyers, Smith and Chapman,wouldn't even attend any of the
hearings until Smith wasordered to do so by the
magistrates.
During her trial, she wasordered by Smith not to engage
(38:36):
or say anything in her defense,which she felt wronged by,
although this is a tactic mostdefense lawyers would advise
their clients to do.
In one of her letters she sentafter her trial, she expressed
her displeasure in not defendingherself, as she felt her being
in prison is a conspiracy theoryled by Thomas Riley and others
(38:58):
from the village.
Clearly, she was delusional.
If they wouldn't have anyproof, maybe, but they exhumed
all the cottons and all werepoison.
Surely a family that managed tosurvive until that time
wouldn't all of a sudden poisonthemselves by mistake.
She was particularly scornedabout five or six witnesses that
(39:20):
testified against her, whichshe strongly felt their accounts
were only based on gossip andnot facts.
These were crucial to theinvestigation and they all
provided key evidence andrecounted their knowledge of
those events which furthercemented Mary Ann's guilt.
No wonder why she was scornedabout them.
These were her neighbor MarianneDodds, Phoebe Robson, Sarah
(39:44):
Smith, Mary Tate and JaneHeadley.
Jane was the one who waspresent at Joseph's death and
observed the horrible way hedied, as well as how Mary Ann
was holding him down when he wassquirming in pain.
Can you even imagine the womanyou love holds you down and
cares for you while she's theone who poisoned you?
(40:06):
And with all that, he stillcalls her his best friend?
There are also the two doctorswhich she encountered so many
times and she actually workedfor them as well.
Dr.
Kilburn and Dr.
Chalmers, and of course, hernemesis and our hero in this
story today, Thomas Riley.
It's Thomas' insistence thatgot her into that place that
(40:29):
day, and she hated him.
He provided his statement onwhat she told him about the
child being an inconvenience andhow she would make him go like
the other Cottons.
He was able to clearly naildown the motive for her murder
spree.
the fact that she was lookingto start a new relationship and
everyone else had to go.
(40:52):
Some of the evidence werecircumstantial.
For example, no arsenic wasfound in her house when she was
arrested.
If she would have had a betterlawyer than Smith, which would
actually show up at thehearings, some of these witness
accounts could have beenrefuted.
And under no circumstance thisis okay.
Despite being a despicablemonster, Everyone deserves a
(41:15):
fair trial, and if found guilty,it must be according to the
evidence.
The magistrate should have donea better job of holding Smith
accountable, but at the sametime, it was the 1870s.
Women couldn't even ownproperty.
I doubt they also cared of herlawyer being effective.
So you might wonder now, how onearth was anyone able to buy
(41:38):
arsenic, which was so poisonousand killed so many people?
Well, people during that timeused arsenic for literally
anything.
It was the go-to poison to killpests, bugs, and so on.
They would be able to buystraight from the chemist then.
Mary Dodd actually describedhow she purchased it for
(42:02):
Mary Ann.
A few weeks before JosephNotran's death, Mary Ann sent
little Charles Edwards to thechemist to purchase arsenic as
she had bugs in a mattress.
The chemist refused to sell ashe was a child, which then
Mary Ann asked Mary Dodd to gopurchase some.
She did indeed and used half ofit on a mattress, which
(42:24):
apparently had only two to threebugs, and the rest she put in a
jar out of the way.
This was also confirmed by thechemist, which in the first
place refused to sell to CharlesEdwards.
So indeed, they haven't foundany in her house, so the
prosecutor focused on thewitness accounts to prove she
had arsenic in her possession.
(42:44):
The star witness was Dr.
Scuddergood, which was the onewho has done all the forensic
tests after Dr.
Kilburn sent the jars to him.
He was not only able to clearlyevidence that there was arsenic
in all the bodies, but also wasable to say the quantities.
For example, Joseph Nothras had17.7 milligrams.
(43:08):
Four to five would be enough tokill someone.
No wonder why he was in suchagony.
The doctor was also extremelyimpartial and clearly described
everything he received frompost-mortem and the fact that
every single jar was perfectlysealed.
So a very credible witness.
What was extremely important,and which goes against her
(43:32):
lawyer theory that CharlesEdwards ingested the poison by
mistake, was Dr.
Scott's good assessment of theorgans, where he found arsenic
in the stomach and bile andother organs, which means he was
indeed poisoned across multipledays as he had time to digest
it.
Therefore, it's less likely thechild would just go and keep
(43:55):
drinking from the same poisonjar without anyone noticing.
By this time, Mary Ann hadanother lawyer fighting in her
corner, which was actually morecompetent, and he did try hard
to put doubts in jurors' minds.
Specifically, during Dr.
Scattergood'scross-examination, in
(44:15):
particular, he insisted onCharles Edwards being poisoned
by the wallpaper in his room,which had indeed arsenic, and if
exposed to heat, would havespread particles.
or another theory he presented,was where the soap which was
used for the bed bugs previouslywhen Joseph died, which was a
combination of soap and arsenic,has poisoned him.
(44:37):
Her lawyer argued that CharlesEdwards could have used that
soap and, again, ingestedparticles of arsenic.
Dr.
Scattergood was able to confirmthis would not be possible as
the soap was melting when he wasdoing his tests and not drying
enough to spread particles thatthe child could have ingested.
(44:57):
Additionally, in both cases, Dr.
Scattergood found evidence ofsolid poison in their stomach,
not particles, which led to hisassessment that the poison has
been ingested.
So, once all the witnesses havebeen cross-examined, the final
arguments were given on Fridaythe 7th by each of the legal
(45:20):
teams.
Russell, the prosecutor, hasfocused on the evidence given by
Dr.
Scattergood in his closingstatements and the fact that
Charles Edward was poisonedacross multiple days.
Her lawyer, Campbell, honed inthe fact that evidence from
other cases has been included inthis trial.
(45:42):
so let's stay on this for amoment to understand why is he
focusing on this pointspecifically well the trial was
for the murder of charlesedwards only and at the time
similar evidence wouldn't cometo be admitted in court for yet
another 40 years so with thisher lawyer was adamant this
(46:02):
evidence was not to beadmissible by this evidence we
mean the cause of death and theamount of arsenic found in the
post-mortem for Joseph Natrasand the other cottons, including
the baby.
This was clearly a pattern, butas this type of evidence wasn't
usually admitted in court, theprosecutors had to work around
(46:23):
it.
This is what actually got themto bring Dr.
Scuddergood to specificallyfocus on the fact that Charles
Edwards could have been poisonedby mistake and the fact that he
had solid poison in hisstomach, therefore, could have
been soap or some sort ofwallpaper.
This evidence was previouslypresented to the magistrates, so
(46:43):
the judge allowed it to bediscussed in front of the jury
where it was already presentedin the past.
Therefore, they would have beenaware of this.
Obviously, not without a fightfrom the defense lawyer,
Campbell.
After all this was done,Justice Archbold summed up the
evidence and advised the jury tocome to a conclusion beyond a
(47:05):
reasonable doubt.
The jury came back an hourlater and they have unanimously
found Mary Ann Cotton guilty ofthe murder of Charles Edward
Cotton.
Her execution was scheduled for24th of March, 1873.
Mary Ann has never come cleanabout any of these murders.
(47:27):
She wrote a series of lettersafter the sentence, but she only
admitted to bigamy.
Mary Ann was not to be executedin public.
By that time, there were manybotched executions where some of
the prisoners were evenstrangled before being hanged
and they didn't want the publicwitnessing such thing.
(47:48):
On the weeks leading to herdeath, she wrote numerous
letters urging her familymembers to be strong and write
to the home office to uphold hersentence.
She adopted her baby to anotherfamily and then she was hanged
on 24th of March behind theprison wall.
(48:08):
Right after her execution, thereverend, which was praying with
her earlier that day, addressedthe reporters in the prison
yard, telling them that Mary Anndid confess killing Charles,
but she said it wasn't onpurpose.
It was as she was usingarrowroot flour for baking, and
it might have contained poison.
So, yes, even on her dying bed,she wouldn't confess.
(48:33):
This woman was a cold-bloodedkiller and she had absolutely no
remorse.
I am sad for those who crossedher path and trusted her and
especially sad for all thechildren she has murdered.
She was supposed to be theirmom,
(48:54):
Thank you for listening totoday's episode and see you next
time for a new one.
Also, if you'd like to listenone day early, ad-free, as well
as one additional episode permonth, join us on Patreon at
Clue Trail Podcast for the greattrail membership option we
(49:16):
have.
Welcome to Clue Trail, the podcast where every story is a
mystery and every clue leads youdeeper into the unknown.
From unsolved crimes andpuzzling disappearances to
hidden histories and curiouscoincidences, we piece together
(00:22):
the fragments to uncover thetruth or raise even more
questions.
Some clues lead to answers,others to even greater
mysteries.
But one thing is certain, everytrail tells a story.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
In the Victorian England, adark shadow lingered over the
(00:54):
industrial towns of theNortheast.
a shadow cast by a seeminglyordinary woman with a deadly
secret.
Mary Ann Cotton, a nurse, awife, and a mother, was also a
calculated poisoner whose crimesshocked the nation.
She was accused of murdering asmany as 21 people, including
(01:18):
her own children and husbands.
How did a woman who appearedunassuming evade suspicions for
so long?
What drove her to herhorrifying acts?
Today we will unravel thechilling tale of Mary Ann
Cotton, Britain's first femaleserial killer.
So let's begin.
(01:39):
Mary Ann Cotton was born on31st of October 1832 in Low
Morsley, County Durham, toMargaret and Michael Robson.
Low morsley, in the 1800s, wasa quintessential rural
community, shaped by theIndustrial Revolution and the
(02:00):
coal mining industry.
Life in the village revolvedaround hard work, tight-knit
social connections, and theever-challenges of living in a
rapidly changing world.
Life was hard in the 19thcentury coal mines, and often
with low wages and dangerousworking conditions.
There is an in-depthdescription of the life in this
(02:24):
period in the mining towns inDavid Wilson's book on this
case, which was incrediblyinteresting to read.
But to give you a short view,the life embodied the struggles
of the early stages ofindustrial revolution.
Family lived in small cottages,usually two to three rooms, very
overcrowded, where sanitationwas non-existent.
(02:45):
Most of these homes lacked anyindoor plumbing or running
water, and the poor sanitationwould often lead to outbreaks of
disease.
In 1841, there were around 500people living in the area, a
significant increase from the 98which used to live there
before, and by the 1901, around6,500 people.
(03:09):
So in these villages would be aconstant coming and going of
families and mining was almostalways a family occupation.
Boys as young as 8 or 10 wouldalready start working in the
mines, in jobs like opening andclosing ventilation doors,
whilst women supported thedomestic work and raising
(03:30):
children.
So, like many of the men duringthat period, Michael Robson's
job was as a coal miner.
He was known to be a strictdisciplinarian and a devout
Methodist.
Margaret was a homemaker and adevout Methodist as well.
It's been suggested that inMary Ann's life, two men had a
(03:50):
significant impact on thetrajectory of her story,
although in slightly differentways.
One is her father.
When Mary Ann was nine, tragedystruck her family when her
father died in a miningaccident, leaving the family
destitute.
Her father's dead body wasbrought home in one of the
mining sacks, something thatMarianne witnessed at a very
(04:14):
young age.
This was a traumatic event,something that no nine-year-old
child should have to witness.
Her childhood was marked bypoverty, loss, and instability,
which in the end contributed toher survival-driven mindset and
emotional detachment.
You might say these earlyexperiences may have planted the
(04:37):
seeds for the ruthless behaviorshe exhibited later in life,
but...
So many other children had areally hard life during that
period.
More often than not, familieswould struggle to survive.
If hardship would have been thereason, we would have had a
country filled with serialkillers.
Sometimes, people are justevil.
(04:58):
So with no income now, Margaretand the children were evicted
from the cottage as the housingwas tied to Michael's work at
the mining company.
This only added to thefinancial and emotional strain.
She remarried not long after aman named George Stott.
Mary Ann, during this time,attended the local Methodist
(05:22):
Sunday school, where she wastaught to read and write, but
generally the education systemwas quite limited in Lomorsley
in the 1800s.
Many children attended few ofthe local schools or Sunday
schools, but generally ended upbeing pulled out of the
education at an early age tocontribute to the family income.
(05:44):
By her teenage years, she leftschool, like many other kids in
that period, and went to work asa nursemaid for a wealthy
family, which was actually thefamily owning the mining
business where her dad passedaway.
I suppose there wouldn't havebeen many other options in the
area, considering majority ofthe inhabitants in the village
(06:05):
were there to work in the mine.
The house she resided in wasgrander than anything she has
ever seen and in this job shewas exposed to household
management and caregiving skillsthat would later play a role in
her life as a wife, a motherand eventually a serial killer.
Mary Ann worked as a nursemaidfor three years until she
(06:29):
started training as adressmaker.
Also around this time is whereshe met her first husband
William Mowbray a 35-year-oldman who arrived in the village
as he was interested in theavailable work at the mine.
They got married on 18th ofJuly 1852, when Marianne was 19,
(06:49):
and it is heavily implied that,although Marianne was a
religious person, they opted fora civil court marriage at a
place 20 miles away from wherethey were residing, instead of a
chapel in the area, as Mariannewas pregnant at the time with a
child.
Not long after this, they movedto Cornwall for about four
(07:10):
years.
Not a lot is being known oftheir time there or the reason
for relocating, but mostprobably for work at the railway
construction firm.
In Cornwall, they had onechild, a daughter named Margaret
Jane.
There are also several accountsthat suggest that they had
three other children, whichunfortunately died, suspected
(07:34):
being murdered.
So you're probably wonderingwhy it's being suggested and why
we don't know for certain.
Surely there must have been abirth certificate or any
paperwork really?
Well, none of these births havebeen registered as although
registration was compulsory atthe time, the law was not
(07:55):
enforced until 1874.
Also many births, marriage anddeath certificates from this
period are more often than notincorrectly filled in.
So we are only relying onundocumented accounts.
The family moved back inMorsley area where William
started working as a storekeeperat the mines.
(08:16):
And in 1858, they had anotherdaughter named Isabella.
Out of all the children,Isabella is the daughter that
lived the longest.
She was murdered at the age ofnine.
Unfortunately, in 1860, tragedystruck the family as their
first daughter, Margaret Jane,died.
(08:38):
It is heavily implied thatMarianne killed her daughter
alongside with the otherchildren she had in Cornwall.
However, the cause of death onthe death certificate was listed
as Scarletina Anginosa, so wecannot say for sure.
They had another child in 1861.
one year after Margaret Jane'sdeath, a daughter which they
(09:01):
actually named Margaret Jane.
This is odd and unusual.
It more certainly feels verycold for a parent to do such
thing.
It's like Margaret Jane, thefirst child, is erased.
I wonder how William agreed tosuch thing.
Lastly, they also had a boy in1863 named Robert, which died
(09:24):
only a year later from gastricfever.
They moved around a fair amountduring this time, mainly due to
William taking all sorts ofdifferent jobs.
But they settled for some timein Sutherland, where he worked
as a stock on a steamer ship.
William died in January 1865,and according to his death
(09:44):
certificate, he had succumbed totyphus fever and diarrhea,
which coincidentally, or not,similar symptoms as little
Robert, who died only a yearearlier.
That concludes 12 years ofmarriage between Mary Ann and
William, at least five children,and only two survived until
(10:04):
this time.
Apparently Mary Ann was seenbeing extremely distraught after
her husband's death, and afterreceiving £35 from the insurance
on him, this would have beenaround £5,000 now, which was
definitely a significant sumback then, she moved with her
two surviving daughters out ofthe Sutherland home to Seaham
(10:25):
Harbour, a coal port town on thenortheast coast.
During this time, she is knownto have struck a relationship
with a Joseph Notras.
But many are saying this affairhas started while she was
married to William, when he wasat sea, about a year before his
death and the reason she movedafter William's death.
(10:48):
is to follow Joseph.
Which, if it's true, I wouldsay it also serves a strong
motive on why, after so manyyears, she killed her husband.
It would have been convenientfor her to continue the affair
whilst William was at sea.
But as soon as Josephrelocated, she wouldn't have
been able to persuade William toapprove their family and move.
(11:11):
There wouldn't have been anyreason to do so.
Therefore, her affair wouldhave ended.
Joseph was actually married atthat time with Catherine
Tempest.
However, it is not sure ifMarianne was aware of this when
she decided to relocate.
It is also during this periodwhen her daughter, Margaret
Jane, died from typhus fever,which was a disease widespread
(11:35):
in the Siam area, and this couldbe the actual reason for her
death.
But considering typhus symptomscould be confused with gastric
fever, and knowing who thischild's mother is, most likely
Margaret Jane is a victim aswell.
So with no prospect of marriagewith Joseph since he was
already married and withMargaret Jane passing, Anne
(11:58):
packed up and moved back toSutherland to take a job at the
infirmary.
She also decided to send heronly remaining daughter Isabella
to live with her mother.
This is where she met hersecond husband, George Ward, who
was also working at theinfirmary.
They got married eight monthslater on 28th of August, 1865.
(12:22):
And I get it.
It's so soon after herhusband's death.
But let's go over some aspectsof what life as a woman would
have been back then.
Legally, women's rights wereseverely limited.
They could not vote and couldnot own any property or any
major control over theirfinances.
(12:43):
In 1857, the Matrimonial CausesAct was introduced, which also
limited women's rights overdivorce.
They were denied access to mostprofessions or higher education
and were left under a massivepressure to marry to be able to
have decent living conditions.
So would have been unusualmarrying so shortly after the
(13:07):
husband's death?
I would say in those livingconditions during that time and
with no real way of beingfinancially independent, no.
Mary Ann has seen this firsthandin her family when her mother
married shortly after her firsthusband's death, most likely to
be able to put a roof over herhead since they were evicted
(13:30):
from their home.
There are also loads of pointsbeing made that Mary Ann was
good-looking and she would go tohave so many husbands and so
on, painting her like some sortof black widow.
I think nowadays, yes, havingloads of husbands dying after
you marry them would besuspicious, but back then, I
(13:52):
think just marrying another manshortly after was just normal.
Her marriage to George wasn't avery happy one, this being the
only marriage where there wereno children either, being
heavily speculated that this wasdue to no intimacy, mainly the
issue being word.
I do not know how they got tothis conclusion,
(14:16):
considering Mary Ann did notmake any mentions in any letters
about this marriage, but itcould have been related to
overall view that she was evil,so therefore sexually
promiscuous.
What is more likely to havehappened is that this, once
more, was a marriage ofconvenience.
This marriage to George wasshort-lived as he died on 20th
(14:40):
of October 1866 after a longillness characterized by
paralysis and intestinalproblems.
The cause of death recorded onhis death certificate is that of
English cholera and typhoid.
His sudden death came as asurprise for many, including his
attending doctors, but onceagain, Mary Ann collected
(15:03):
insurance money in respect toher husband's death, and she was
gone.
So, once more, no investigationinto any of these deaths, and
no one seemed to be verysuspicious that one woman could
go through so many losses in herfamily.
Mary Ann moved yet again and inNovember 1866, she was seeking
(15:26):
employment when she came acrossJames Robinson.
Unfortunately, James' wife hasrecently died and he was looking
for a housekeeper.
Mary Ann, with her experiencein housekeeping from her early
age, settled in quickly into therole.
Death toll started almostimmediately after she moved in
(15:49):
when two-year-old Johntragically died of gastric
fever.
This was heavily debated and Ihave seen some say the death
being a month after she moved,therefore most likely she had
time to slowly poison the baby,and some say it was as early as
next day, therefore she wouldn'thave had time to poison the
child.
(16:09):
James was the one to confirmlater on that he doesn't believe
she has poisoned the child ashe died as she arrived.
Again, this is also debated thatshe might have just killed the
baby through other means ormaybe a higher dosage,
considering one of the child'ssymptoms was convulsions, which
(16:30):
is also related to arsenicpoisoning alongside gastric
issues.
She killed all the kids andhusbands because they were an
inconvenience and she would alsoget an insurance pay.
In this case, she had nothingto win from the little child's
death, at least not at thattime.
After his son's death, Jamessought solace in Mary Ann and
(16:53):
they immediately started arelationship and she soon became
pregnant.
I n the spring of 1867, tragedyis about to struck again when
Mary Ann's mother, falls illwith hepatitis, prompting her to
go care for her mother.
Her mother showed signs ofimprovement at first, but she
(17:16):
died nine days after Mary Ann'sarrival.
Everyone was slightly surprisedthat she succumbed to her death
so soon.
It's needless to say what isbeing suspected.
Following this, she returned toRobinson's home, also bringing
her daughter, Isabella, the onlysurviving child from her first
(17:37):
marriage.
So, nice blended family, youthink, right, with James' two
surviving children and herchild?
Well, no, not really.
Things took a turn for the worstalmost immediately when James'
children, Elizabeth and James,and her child, Isabella,
(17:58):
developed severe stomach painsand died between late April and
early May 1867.
She received an insurancepayment after Isabella died of
around £5.
Remember I was saying early onthat Isabella is her longest
surviving child?
Well, considering she livedwith her grandmother for some
(18:21):
time until age 9, it's mostlikely why Isabella was
unharmed.
But as soon as she returned toher mother, her life ended
almost immediately.
Well, even though so muchtragedy happened in such a short
time, this didn't seem to stopMary Ann and James to tie the
(18:43):
knot four months later.
Their first child together, adaughter named Margaret
Isabella, was born in November.
I am lost for words of how coldthis woman is, naming yet
another child of hers after twoothers who she most likely
murdered.
This daughter also died a monthlater.
(19:04):
They had yet another childtogether, a boy named George,
born on 18th of June 1869.
Over time, James started to growsuspicious over Mary Ann
insisting in insuring his life.
It's beyond me how he didn'tfind suspicious the immediate
(19:24):
death of four of his children,her mom, and her other child in
the span of a few months, butinsurance is what made him
suspicious.
He also discovered sheaccumulated some debts and even
resorted to asking his olderchildren to pawn household
items.
Consequently, he decided to endthe relationship luckily before
(19:49):
their son died as well, and heexpelled her from his home.
She left taking the child withher whilst he went and lived
with one of his sisters for sometime, until later on when
Mary Ann abandoned the littleboy at one of their friends'
house, which then was reunitedwith James.
So Mary Ann, now three timesmarried and no children, ended
(20:13):
up destitute.
She had several jobs aroundthat time.
She worked in a laundry, in aninfirmary, and she also worked
for her second husband's doctor,Dr.
Hefferman.
That is when her friend at thattime, Margaret Cotton, decided
to introduce her to her brother,Frederick.
He was Mary Ann last husband.
(20:36):
She kept his name.
He was a recent widower withtwo children, Frederick Jr.
and Charles, having lost twoother children earlier.
These deaths are not attributedto Mary Ann, the wife and
children died prior to herarrival to the house.
(20:57):
To help with the household, hissister, Margaret, moved in with
Frederick for some time, andaround the same time, Mary Ann
started a relationship withFrederick in the early 1870s.
By April of that year, she waspregnant with his child.
Whilst this was happening,Margaret got sick, experiencing
(21:21):
severe stomach pains, and sheunfortunately died in March the
same year from pleuralpneumonia.
Symptoms of this disease wouldbe coughing, rapid heartbeat,
and difficulty breathing.
But she also suffered fromnausea, fever, and vomiting.
which are produced by arsenicpoisoning.
(21:42):
But what reason would Mariannehad to kill Margaret?
If anything, Margaret was anamazing friend and she was
really happy of the relationshipbetween her and her brother.
What I think is that ifMargaret would have still lived
there, she couldn't have gottenaway with what she will do later
(22:03):
on.
So she killed her.
An interesting point is thatMary Ann left for a short period
of time Frederick's house.
It's unsure why, but she leftand started working for a doctor
in a town nearby, although shewas pregnant with his child at
the time.
She did return by summer thatyear, but not at his house.
(22:26):
She actually asked for somehelp to rekindle the
relationship from some commonfriends they had.
Everyone thinks they had anargument back in April, right
after his sister's death.
Could have been that the griefof all the death around him was
absolutely crushing and it ledto arguments.
They did restart therelationship and they were
(22:49):
married on 17th of September ata church in Newcastle.
Later on, when she wasarrested, the only crime she
confessed was to bigamy because,guess what?
At the time she marriedFrederick, she was still married
to James.
(23:09):
The next year, in April 1871,they all packed up the house and
the kids and moved to WestAuckland.
The move to West Auckland wasdone at Marianne's suggestion
as, guess who was living in thearea?
Joseph Natrasse.
She killed almost her entirefamily during her first marriage
(23:31):
to ensure a straightforwardrelationship with him.
And now, unfortunately, thesame events will unfold once
more, as one year later, theonly Cotton alive would be her.
Once they moved there,Frederick started working as a
hewer at the mines, which isbasically a miner who loosens up
(23:55):
rock and minerals.
Definitely a hard job.
It's at the same mine JosephNotras was working as well, but
it's most certain Frederick wasnot aware of the relationship
his wife had with him in thepast.
Mary Ann has definitely kept atab on her past lover and she
most likely believed that hermove there would rekindle the
(24:18):
relationship, which means shealso knew she would kill her
family at that point.
Frederick was to die first atage 40 in September that year
and his cause of death washepatitis and typhoid.
Three months later, JosephNothras moved into her house as
(24:39):
her lodger.
And to remind you again, allthis is happening whilst she is
still married to James.
So now, after so many years,she would finally be free to
settle and continue herrelationship with Natras,
correct?
No, it's wrong, as she is acomplete psychopath.
(25:01):
Shortly after Frederick'sdeath, She advertised her
services as a nurse and she wasemployed by a man who suffered
of smallpox.
He was quite a prospect for heras he was not a minor, he
worked as an excise officer at alocal brewery, therefore she
would mingle in differentcircles, and he was a bachelor
(25:23):
so no children to look after.
She definitely did not want topass an opportunity like this
which would make her move up inthe world.
But she had a problem in formof old children and a trance
now.
My God, she's a cruel womanwith no remorse.
In the course of a month,between March and April, three
(25:45):
members of her family would die.
First was Frederick Jr., herstepchild, which died of gastric
fever, aka poison with arsenicby a psychopath.
Baby Robert, which was her ownchild with her last husband,
which died of convulsions fromteething, which obviously is not
the correct cause of death.
This breaks my heart.
(26:07):
That poor child to have such acruel woman as his mum.
And lastly, her lover, JosephNathras.
He died of typhoid fever.
This clearly shows her beingincapable of caring for anyone
at all.
Everyone was there to serve apurpose in her life and when
(26:27):
they became inconvenient, shewould kill them.
It's also so heartbreaking as Iwas reading through the
neighbor's evidence given to thepolice in regards to Joseph's
death as some of them werepresent trying to help him and
Mary Ann.
He suffered immensely and hisdeath was so painful but the
(26:49):
part that brought me so muchsadness was that before dying,
Joseph declared he wants her tohave his money and other
belongings, as I quote, She hadbeen his best friend.
This best friend left the bodyof her death child, baby Robert,
in the same room as Joseph, asshe knew he would die soon and
(27:12):
would have been cheaper to burythem at the same time.
This is how his best friend andlover of so many years was
treating him.
So with now Joseph out of theway, Mary Ann needed to get rid
of the last surviving cottonchild, Charles Edward.
But, surprisingly in this case,she contacted the child's uncle
(27:36):
to take charge of him, but herefused to do so.
With no other option, she movedout of the house to a smaller
one, a three-story house, takingCharles Edward with her.
During this time, she was alsopregnant with most likely
Quick-Manning child, which isthe man she worked for as a
nurse.
He hasn't proposed or anythingyet, but it's known he has
(28:01):
forbidden her from taking anymale lodgers in her house, so
she started advertising herservices as a nurse whilst
waiting for a marriage proposal.
Remember in the beginning I saidthat two men impacted heavily
Mary Ann's life?
One was her father, and thesecond one was the man who would
(28:22):
bring her down.
That is Thomas Riley, which inmy opinion has potentially saved
the life of many people thiswoman might have gotten in
contact with.
As he has seen her advertisingfor a job, he heads over to her
house, as he knew of some workshe might be interested in.
(28:44):
In here, he has a really oddconversation with Marianne,
which is actually the reason hewent to the police.
When he asked her to take somework, she refused, saying she is
too preoccupied with caring forher stepson and she is unable
to take, in her own words, arespectable lodger in her house.
(29:07):
Mary Ann, knowing Thomas wasthe assistant overseeing the
poor relief, basically supportgiven to poor families, mainly
through housing, proceeds to askThomas if he can't support her
to have Charles Edward movedinto one of these homes.
Thomas refused, claiming hewill only help if she's ready to
(29:29):
go with the child as well,which was absolutely against.
Thomas then goes to ask,jokingly, which respectable
lodger is she taking, which willmake her unable to care for the
child?
And was that Quick Manning?
Obviously, gossip was a greatway of entertaining during that
time, not that there were manyother options anyway.
(29:49):
Mary Ann smiled at his commentand then proceeds to say that it
could be so, but the boy is inthe way, and then she carries on
with...
Perhaps he won't matter as Iwon't be troubled long.
He'll go like all the rest ofthe Cotton family.
All this conversation was heldin front of the child, by the
(30:12):
way, which is absolutely nuts.
Obviously, Thomas is shocked bywhat she's saying and he goes
to clarify, do you mean he willdie?
Which she replies to, he'llknock it up.
I don't think he actuallybelieved her at that time, and
he probably thought she's angryby the fact that he refused to
(30:33):
help with having the boy sent toa home.
But six days later, he comesacross Mary Ann, which seemingly
seems distressed, and she tellshim little Charles Edward is
dead.
Thomas went andreported Mary Ann to the police,
to Sergeant Hutchinson, whichthen immediately contacted the
(30:54):
doctor who was caring for thelittle boy.
Dr.
Kilburn luckily did not releasea death certificate by that
point, and from there, thewheels finally started turning,
as the doctor immediatelycontacted the coroner's office
and a post-mortem was scheduled.
Mary Ann already started beingsuspicious about Riley and what
(31:15):
he said to the police, and hersuspicions were confirmed when
Dr.
Kilburn wouldn't release adeath certificate, which,
without it, Mary Ann couldn'tcash in the insurance she had on
the little boy.
After all these were in place,Sergeant Hutchinson went and
informed Mary Ann of theinvestigation and the
(31:37):
post-mortem being scheduled, butshe seemed unfazed by this
development.
She absolutely believed shewould get away with it.
I mean, why wouldn't she whenthis happened so many times
before?
And you know what?
She did, at least for the firstpart of the investigation.
The post-mortem took place at apublic house next to Mary Ann's
(32:00):
house.
Dr.
Kilburn conducted thispost-mortem, but for some
reason, he didn't have time tobe extremely thorough.
Meanwhile, the jury, which was agroup of doctors and a coroner,
were gathering at the pub toawait for Dr.
Kilburn with the findings anddiscuss if the death was indeed
(32:21):
suspicious.
When he arrived and presentedthe case, he was hesitant to lay
any suspicious findings andclaim it to be potentially
gastric fever.
The jury then debated for sometime and returned after one hour
with the verdict that the boyhas died of natural causes.
(32:42):
So Mary Ann was cleared.
Can you believe how cocky shemust have felt?
Well, cocky enough toimmediately write to Thomas
Riley saying, to get help withthe funeral costs through the
fund he was managing, as sheapparently ran out of money.
Thomas, being absolutelyamazing, helped immediately and
(33:04):
little Charles Edward wasfinally laid to r est.
I was thinking, how could thedoctor be so wrong?
But I think I'm comparingmedicine today with the medicine
they would have practiced 150years ago.
I am not defending Dr.
Kilburn as he should have spentmore time during this
(33:24):
post-mortem instead of rushingthrough it, but I wonder if he
would have been able torecognize the poison if he
hasn't seen it before.
During that time, this was nota procedure they would usually
do.
If anything, they would rarelydo post-mortems.
in a time where typhoid wasspreading everywhere and also
(33:46):
the conditions they were livingin back then, the food and lack
of sanitation, I'm not surprisedhe did not suspect it or looked
further at that time.
So, Mary Ann, now child-freeand not under official
investigation, is now free toget on with her life and cement
her relationship with QuickManning.
(34:08):
However, we now finally startto see a bit of karma as her
name was getting dragged throughthe mud in their community
after the post-mortem.
People were speculating.
Also, Thomas Riley carried onpressing for action with the
police, knowing something is notright with all these people's
(34:30):
deaths.
All the gossip and rumourdidn't do any good for her
relationship as Quick Manninghas distanced himself from her
and their child.
I get not wanting to doanything with her, but you still
have a responsibility for thechild when it's born.
Mary Ann, now left pennilessand extremely unpopular, was the
(34:53):
subject of the town gossip.
She would have already moved toa different town by now, but
she got rid of all the lodgersfor quick money, and there was
no way she would have been hiredin that town as a nurse,
considering all the rumors.
She got a lodger in the end andshe also had to sell almost all
her furniture to him.
(35:13):
Around the same time, she alsogot sick with a sore throat.
Dr.
Kilburn and Dr.
Chalmers both refused to comesee her.
Dr.
Kilburn, again following onThomas Riley's insistence,
finally got around to complete achemical test as part of the
(35:34):
post-mortem.
He conducted various chemicaltests on the stomach contents of
Charles Edward.
After this, he indeeddiscovered that the child was
fed the white powder and he wasin fact murdered by his
stepmother.
That night, after he was done,he went straight to the police
station and reporting thesefindings to Superintendent John
(35:57):
Henderson.
Finally, the following day,Mary Ann was arrested and her
house was searched.
I can't even imagine the reliefThomas Riley must have felt
then.
His insistence in pressing thepolice and the doctor might have
very well saved the life ofanother two.
(36:17):
Based on Mary Ann's record andhow much little regard she had
for her children or her husband,she most likely would have
killed Quick Manning and theirchild if they were becoming an
inconvenience or she would havefound a better prospect.
After her arrest, her house wasthoroughly searched as well,
(36:38):
but the search produced verylittle.
They found some pills, some redpowder, and arrowroot, which
was mainly used for baking.
Whilst she remained in policecustody, the Justice's clerk at
Bishop Auckland requestedpermission to exhume Charles
Edward's body, which was granteda week later.
Meanwhile, Dr.
(37:00):
Kilburn, Dr.
Chalmers, and SuperintendentHutchinson took the rest of the
evidence taken from CharlesEdward's body, such as stomach
contents and viscera, andbottled them, and sent them to a
doctor, Thomas Scattergood, ata forensic medicine in Leeds.
Upon investigation, Dr.
Thomas found evidence ofarsenic all over the samples.
(37:26):
Mary Ann appeared twice beforethe Bishop of Auckland
magistrates, first one on August21st, 1872, just over a month
after she was arrested, and thena year later in February.
In August, she only faced thecharge of Charles Edward murder
by administering arsenic.
In February, she was alsocharged with the murders of
(37:49):
Joseph Nathras, Frederick CottonJr., and her 14-month-old son,
Robert Cotton.
All their bodies were exhumedand arsenic was found.
By that time, Mary Ann alsogave birth to her daughter with
quick money on January 1973.
It came to the impressionduring court proceedings that
(38:11):
Mary Ann was behaving like adutiful mother.
Obviously, we know she is farfrom that.
Her lawyers were absolutelydeplorable and she did not have
a capable defense.
Her lawyers, Smith and Chapman,wouldn't even attend any of the
hearings until Smith wasordered to do so by the
magistrates.
During her trial, she wasordered by Smith not to engage
(38:36):
or say anything in her defense,which she felt wronged by,
although this is a tactic mostdefense lawyers would advise
their clients to do.
In one of her letters she sentafter her trial, she expressed
her displeasure in not defendingherself, as she felt her being
in prison is a conspiracy theoryled by Thomas Riley and others
(38:58):
from the village.
Clearly, she was delusional.
If they wouldn't have anyproof, maybe, but they exhumed
all the cottons and all werepoison.
Surely a family that managed tosurvive until that time
wouldn't all of a sudden poisonthemselves by mistake.
She was particularly scornedabout five or six witnesses that
(39:20):
testified against her, whichshe strongly felt their accounts
were only based on gossip andnot facts.
These were crucial to theinvestigation and they all
provided key evidence andrecounted their knowledge of
those events which furthercemented Mary Ann's guilt.
No wonder why she was scornedabout them.
These were her neighbor MarianneDodds, Phoebe Robson, Sarah
(39:44):
Smith, Mary Tate and JaneHeadley.
Jane was the one who waspresent at Joseph's death and
observed the horrible way hedied, as well as how Mary Ann
was holding him down when he wassquirming in pain.
Can you even imagine the womanyou love holds you down and
cares for you while she's theone who poisoned you?
(40:06):
And with all that, he stillcalls her his best friend?
There are also the two doctorswhich she encountered so many
times and she actually workedfor them as well.
Dr.
Kilburn and Dr.
Chalmers, and of course, hernemesis and our hero in this
story today, Thomas Riley.
It's Thomas' insistence thatgot her into that place that
(40:29):
day, and she hated him.
He provided his statement onwhat she told him about the
child being an inconvenience andhow she would make him go like
the other Cottons.
He was able to clearly naildown the motive for her murder
spree.
the fact that she was lookingto start a new relationship and
everyone else had to go.
(40:52):
Some of the evidence werecircumstantial.
For example, no arsenic wasfound in her house when she was
arrested.
If she would have had a betterlawyer than Smith, which would
actually show up at thehearings, some of these witness
accounts could have beenrefuted.
And under no circumstance thisis okay.
Despite being a despicablemonster, Everyone deserves a
(41:15):
fair trial, and if found guilty,it must be according to the
evidence.
The magistrate should have donea better job of holding Smith
accountable, but at the sametime, it was the 1870s.
Women couldn't even ownproperty.
I doubt they also cared of herlawyer being effective.
So you might wonder now, how onearth was anyone able to buy
(41:38):
arsenic, which was so poisonousand killed so many people?
Well, people during that timeused arsenic for literally
anything.
It was the go-to poison to killpests, bugs, and so on.
They would be able to buystraight from the chemist then.
Mary Dodd actually describedhow she purchased it for
(42:02):
Mary Ann.
A few weeks before JosephNotran's death, Mary Ann sent
little Charles Edwards to thechemist to purchase arsenic as
she had bugs in a mattress.
The chemist refused to sell ashe was a child, which then
Mary Ann asked Mary Dodd to gopurchase some.
She did indeed and used half ofit on a mattress, which
(42:24):
apparently had only two to threebugs, and the rest she put in a
jar out of the way.
This was also confirmed by thechemist, which in the first
place refused to sell to CharlesEdwards.
So indeed, they haven't foundany in her house, so the
prosecutor focused on thewitness accounts to prove she
had arsenic in her possession.
(42:44):
The star witness was Dr.
Scuddergood, which was the onewho has done all the forensic
tests after Dr.
Kilburn sent the jars to him.
He was not only able to clearlyevidence that there was arsenic
in all the bodies, but also wasable to say the quantities.
For example, Joseph Nothras had17.7 milligrams.
(43:08):
Four to five would be enough tokill someone.
No wonder why he was in suchagony.
The doctor was also extremelyimpartial and clearly described
everything he received frompost-mortem and the fact that
every single jar was perfectlysealed.
So a very credible witness.
What was extremely important,and which goes against her
(43:32):
lawyer theory that CharlesEdwards ingested the poison by
mistake, was Dr.
Scott's good assessment of theorgans, where he found arsenic
in the stomach and bile andother organs, which means he was
indeed poisoned across multipledays as he had time to digest
it.
Therefore, it's less likely thechild would just go and keep
(43:55):
drinking from the same poisonjar without anyone noticing.
By this time, Mary Ann hadanother lawyer fighting in her
corner, which was actually morecompetent, and he did try hard
to put doubts in jurors' minds.
Specifically, during Dr.
Scattergood'scross-examination, in
(44:15):
particular, he insisted onCharles Edwards being poisoned
by the wallpaper in his room,which had indeed arsenic, and if
exposed to heat, would havespread particles.
or another theory he presented,was where the soap which was
used for the bed bugs previouslywhen Joseph died, which was a
combination of soap and arsenic,has poisoned him.
(44:37):
Her lawyer argued that CharlesEdwards could have used that
soap and, again, ingestedparticles of arsenic.
Dr.
Scattergood was able to confirmthis would not be possible as
the soap was melting when he wasdoing his tests and not drying
enough to spread particles thatthe child could have ingested.
(44:57):
Additionally, in both cases, Dr.
Scattergood found evidence ofsolid poison in their stomach,
not particles, which led to hisassessment that the poison has
been ingested.
So, once all the witnesses havebeen cross-examined, the final
arguments were given on Fridaythe 7th by each of the legal
(45:20):
teams.
Russell, the prosecutor, hasfocused on the evidence given by
Dr.
Scattergood in his closingstatements and the fact that
Charles Edward was poisonedacross multiple days.
Her lawyer, Campbell, honed inthe fact that evidence from
other cases has been included inthis trial.
(45:42):
so let's stay on this for amoment to understand why is he
focusing on this pointspecifically well the trial was
for the murder of charlesedwards only and at the time
similar evidence wouldn't cometo be admitted in court for yet
another 40 years so with thisher lawyer was adamant this
(46:02):
evidence was not to beadmissible by this evidence we
mean the cause of death and theamount of arsenic found in the
post-mortem for Joseph Natrasand the other cottons, including
the baby.
This was clearly a pattern, butas this type of evidence wasn't
usually admitted in court, theprosecutors had to work around
(46:23):
it.
This is what actually got themto bring Dr.
Scuddergood to specificallyfocus on the fact that Charles
Edwards could have been poisonedby mistake and the fact that he
had solid poison in hisstomach, therefore, could have
been soap or some sort ofwallpaper.
This evidence was previouslypresented to the magistrates, so
(46:43):
the judge allowed it to bediscussed in front of the jury
where it was already presentedin the past.
Therefore, they would have beenaware of this.
Obviously, not without a fightfrom the defense lawyer,
Campbell.
After all this was done,Justice Archbold summed up the
evidence and advised the jury tocome to a conclusion beyond a
(47:05):
reasonable doubt.
The jury came back an hourlater and they have unanimously
found Mary Ann Cotton guilty ofthe murder of Charles Edward
Cotton.
Her execution was scheduled for24th of March, 1873.
Mary Ann has never come cleanabout any of these murders.
(47:27):
She wrote a series of lettersafter the sentence, but she only
admitted to bigamy.
Mary Ann was not to be executedin public.
By that time, there were manybotched executions where some of
the prisoners were evenstrangled before being hanged
and they didn't want the publicwitnessing such thing.
(47:48):
On the weeks leading to herdeath, she wrote numerous
letters urging her familymembers to be strong and write
to the home office to uphold hersentence.
She adopted her baby to anotherfamily and then she was hanged
on 24th of March behind theprison wall.
(48:08):
Right after her execution, thereverend, which was praying with
her earlier that day, addressedthe reporters in the prison
yard, telling them that Mary Anndid confess killing Charles,
but she said it wasn't onpurpose.
It was as she was usingarrowroot flour for baking, and
it might have contained poison.
So, yes, even on her dying bed,she wouldn't confess.
(48:33):
This woman was a cold-bloodedkiller and she had absolutely no
remorse.
I am sad for those who crossedher path and trusted her and
especially sad for all thechildren she has murdered.
She was supposed to be theirmom,
(48:54):
Thank you for listening totoday's episode and see you next
time for a new one.
Also, if you'd like to listenone day early, ad-free, as well
as one additional episode permonth, join us on Patreon at
Clue Trail Podcast for the greattrail membership option we
(49:16):
have.
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