The Rise and Fall of Infamous Serial Killer Mary Ann Cotton 

In the mid-19th century, a couple’s daughter, Margaret Jane, was born in 1856 and recorded at St. Germans. Sadly, she passed away in 1860. Without wasting time, Mary Ann bore another child, also named Margaret Jane, in 1861, followed by a son, William, who succumbed to gastric fever. This period marked a harrowing sequence of loss for the family.

While the family was grappling with the death of their children, Mary Ann’s husband, William, worked as a foreman on a steam vessel. Tragically, he, too, faced an untimely demise shortly after being diagnosed with an intestinal issue, leaving the family to mourn yet another heartbreaking loss in quick succession.