Mary Ann Cotton – Britain’s First Female Serial Killer

Author/Guide: Martin Connolly

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1870s: Mary Ann Cotton – Britain’s First Female Serial Killer

ISBN: 978-1473876200
Genre: Crime, Non-Fiction

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What you need to know before your trail

A female thief, with four husbands, a lover and, reportedly, over twelve children, is arrested and tried for the murder of her step-son in 1872, turning the small village of West Auckland in County Durham upside down.

Other bodies are exhumed and when they are found to contain arsenic, she is suspected of their murder as well. The perpetrator, Mary Ann Cotton, was tried and found guilty and later hanged on 24 March 1873 in Durham Goal. It is claimed she murdered over twenty people and was the first female serial killer in England.

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One of the attributes that the North East is not proud of , but the fact remains that this is quite a remarkable story for its time, for any time infact. This book takes you back in time with full blown accounts of the trial and witness testimonies plyus many location photographs to really show how the places and living conditions were at the time.

Reading this story is also taking a look at just how difficult life was then. There was rife poverty and high infant mortality. Many children died very early on following outbreaks of typhoid and cholera for example. Although children did die young, to have four husbands and twelve children made her stan out.

This is not just a story of the trial however but of Mary Cotton’s life and more importantly the aftermath – how theose who survived managed to carry on with their lives. There is a keen look at the legal system used to convict her by comparing it to more modern police investigations and methods. There are many excerpts from local newspapers and you get a feel for the sensationalism which resulted in such a trial. (very similar to modern day) Mary Ann Cotton was imprisoned in Durham Goal where she gave birth to a daughter.