The World's Most Evil Psychopaths: Horrifying True-Life Cases Read Online Free Page B
Author: John Marlowe
died in 1862. During the last decade of his life, however, he achieved a certain degree of success as the author of Fish and Fishing in the Lone Glens of Scotland and A Manual of Artistic Anatomy, which he described as being ‘for the use of sculptors, painters, and amateurs’.
VICTORIAN NIGHTMARES
The reign of Queen Victoria saw great advances in science and policing which enabled the detection of crimes that would have gone unnoticed at one time. Improvements in printing, combined with the advent of the telegraph and stenography, ensured that news was captured and spread at a previously unimaginable speed. The popular press was in its ascendancy and used much of its power to bring lurid stories of murder and sadism to the masses.
MARY ANN COTTON
Mary Ann Cotton was the most prolific serial killer in Victorian England. Among her victims were her mother, a lover, a friend, three husbands and numerous stepchildren. It is thought that she killed ten of her own children.
Her life began in Dickensian surroundings. She was born Mary Ann Robson, in October 1832, within Low Moorsley, a small village located not far from the city of Sunderland in north-east England. Consisting of herself, two younger siblings and Mary Ann’s parents, the Robson family was not a large one. However, her father, a miner, seems to have been forever struggling to make ends meet. His life above ground was devoted to his two beliefs: Methodism and the idea that children must be raised with a firm hand.
When Mary Ann was 8, her father moved the family to nearby Murton, where he was employed by the South Hetton Coal Company. Any advancement the family had hoped to make through the relocation soon vanished after he fell 45 metres to his death down a mine shaft.
Six years later in 1846 Mary Ann’s mother remarried. Although her stepfather had none of the financial worries that had plagued her father, the two men had at least one thing in common: the belief in strict discipline. At 16, Mary Ann escaped the family home by obtaining a position as a private nurse. She returned to her mother and stepfather three years later, but only for a brief period. Within months, a pregnant Mary Ann married William Mowbray, a labourer, and left the family home for good.
The young couple lived a somewhat transient lifestyle as Mowbray pursued work in the mines and in railway construction. Ultimately, they ended up where they had begun; in Sunderland, where Mowbray found work first as a foreman with the South Hetton Coal Company, then as a fireman aboard the steamer Newburn. In January 1865, Mowbray died of what was described as an intestinal disorder. Mary Ann received an insurance payment of £35 on his life. Wishing to express his condolences, the attending doctor revisited the house, surprising the widow who was dancing around the room in an expensive new dress.
During their 13-year marriage, Mary Ann and William Mowbray had had nine children, only two of whom were still alive when their father died.
After Mowbray’s death, Mary Ann moved eight kilometres south to Seaham Harbour. She began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, a man who was engaged to another woman. It was at this point that one of her two remaining children, a 3-year-old girl, died. After Nattrass married, Mary Ann returned to Sunderland with Isabella, her only surviving child. The girl was sent to live with her grandmother, and Mary Ann found employment with the Sunderland Infirmary House of Recovery for the Cure of Contagious Fever, Dispensary and Humane Society. While working there, she met an engineer named George Ward, who was suffering from a fever. His recovery was swift. Ward was discharged and, in August 1865, the two married. However, his ill-health returned soon after the wedding. During much of the marriage, he suffered from a lingering illness. Symptoms included paralyses and chronic stomach problems. When Ward died in October 1866, Mary Ann accused her late husband’s doctor
VICTORIAN NIGHTMARES
The reign of Queen Victoria saw great advances in science and policing which enabled the detection of crimes that would have gone unnoticed at one time. Improvements in printing, combined with the advent of the telegraph and stenography, ensured that news was captured and spread at a previously unimaginable speed. The popular press was in its ascendancy and used much of its power to bring lurid stories of murder and sadism to the masses.
MARY ANN COTTON
Mary Ann Cotton was the most prolific serial killer in Victorian England. Among her victims were her mother, a lover, a friend, three husbands and numerous stepchildren. It is thought that she killed ten of her own children.
Her life began in Dickensian surroundings. She was born Mary Ann Robson, in October 1832, within Low Moorsley, a small village located not far from the city of Sunderland in north-east England. Consisting of herself, two younger siblings and Mary Ann’s parents, the Robson family was not a large one. However, her father, a miner, seems to have been forever struggling to make ends meet. His life above ground was devoted to his two beliefs: Methodism and the idea that children must be raised with a firm hand.
When Mary Ann was 8, her father moved the family to nearby Murton, where he was employed by the South Hetton Coal Company. Any advancement the family had hoped to make through the relocation soon vanished after he fell 45 metres to his death down a mine shaft.
Six years later in 1846 Mary Ann’s mother remarried. Although her stepfather had none of the financial worries that had plagued her father, the two men had at least one thing in common: the belief in strict discipline. At 16, Mary Ann escaped the family home by obtaining a position as a private nurse. She returned to her mother and stepfather three years later, but only for a brief period. Within months, a pregnant Mary Ann married William Mowbray, a labourer, and left the family home for good.
The young couple lived a somewhat transient lifestyle as Mowbray pursued work in the mines and in railway construction. Ultimately, they ended up where they had begun; in Sunderland, where Mowbray found work first as a foreman with the South Hetton Coal Company, then as a fireman aboard the steamer Newburn. In January 1865, Mowbray died of what was described as an intestinal disorder. Mary Ann received an insurance payment of £35 on his life. Wishing to express his condolences, the attending doctor revisited the house, surprising the widow who was dancing around the room in an expensive new dress.
During their 13-year marriage, Mary Ann and William Mowbray had had nine children, only two of whom were still alive when their father died.
After Mowbray’s death, Mary Ann moved eight kilometres south to Seaham Harbour. She began a relationship with Joseph Nattrass, a man who was engaged to another woman. It was at this point that one of her two remaining children, a 3-year-old girl, died. After Nattrass married, Mary Ann returned to Sunderland with Isabella, her only surviving child. The girl was sent to live with her grandmother, and Mary Ann found employment with the Sunderland Infirmary House of Recovery for the Cure of Contagious Fever, Dispensary and Humane Society. While working there, she met an engineer named George Ward, who was suffering from a fever. His recovery was swift. Ward was discharged and, in August 1865, the two married. However, his ill-health returned soon after the wedding. During much of the marriage, he suffered from a lingering illness. Symptoms included paralyses and chronic stomach problems. When Ward died in October 1866, Mary Ann accused her late husband’s doctor
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