Hello all!
I'm fascinated with Mary Ann Cotton's story; I've jotted down the names of her parents (though there seems to be some controversy about her mother's Christian name) and the names of her four husbands.
I wanted to trace the names of all her children with their dates (at least year) of birth and death. It's all very confusing because there seems to be a mix up of children, step-children and so on.
So far I've traced these children:
(
1st marriage to William Mowbray, married 1852, died 1865), several children, one called
Isabella, which could suggest that Mary Ann's mother was called Isabella (or Margaret Isabella and used both names), or else different people called knew her by one name and other people by another (I know several cases).
(
2nd marriage to George Ward in 1865, he died in 1866); haven't managed to trace any children.
(
3rd marriage to James Robinson, who survived; he was the widower of Hannah Greenwell, who if I understood correctly was killed by Mary Ann; married in 1867): at least one child called
George, born 1869. He appears to have survived. There was a
William Greenwell Robison from James' first marriage to Hannah, born in 1857.
(
4th marriage to Frederick Cotton in 1870, died in 1871); they are listed in the census as living with three sons, but I don't know if they are all Frederick and Mary Ann's or come from previous marriages:
Frederick,
Charles and
Robert.
To the total children we add the illegitimate and mysterious
Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton, father unknown, born in Durham prison in 1873, shortly before her mother was hanged (no doubt the hanging was delayed till Mary Ann had given birth; Margaret Edith was born in January 1873, so we presume that Mary Ann became pregnant around March 1872; where was she at the time?
As for the Quick-Mannings, there is a John Q-M who died of smallpox under Mary Ann's charge, but I don't know when.
Can anyone forward the names of the other children? Please, corrections are welcome!
Regards!
