In June 2015 it was announced that English actress Joanne Froggatt, winner of a Golden Globe Award, has been signed up to play Victorian abusive wife and parent and wholesale poisoner, Mary Ann Cotton – executed in 1873 – in an ITV [British TV] two-part drama called Dark Angel. The TV film was inspired by David Wilson’s 2013 book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain’s First Female Serial Killer.
But the fact is that Mary Ann Cotton was far from being the
first. Here are 33 cases which precede that of Cotton. Most of them were
executed for their brutal crimes and many were the subjects of broadside ballads.
The earliest case on this list is that of Margaret Davey (or “Davie”) who “poisoned 3 households.” She was punished for the murders by being boiled to death at Smithfield in 1542.
Not too long before the discovery of Cotton’s long string of killings, Agnes Norman of Newington Butts (in London), only 15 years old, was found in 1871 to have had a mania for killing, having snuffed out the lives of a dog, two cats, six or eight birds (parrots included), and some gold fish – as well as murdering four children and attempting to murder another.
Those who were executed are indicated by: (ex.).
The earliest case on this list is that of Margaret Davey (or “Davie”) who “poisoned 3 households.” She was punished for the murders by being boiled to death at Smithfield in 1542.
Not too long before the discovery of Cotton’s long string of killings, Agnes Norman of Newington Butts (in London), only 15 years old, was found in 1871 to have had a mania for killing, having snuffed out the lives of a dog, two cats, six or eight birds (parrots included), and some gold fish – as well as murdering four children and attempting to murder another.
Those who were executed are indicated by: (ex.).
800 – Queen
Eadburgh – England
1542 – Margaret
Davey (Davie) – Smithfield, England (ex.)
1609 – Jane
Hattersley – East Grinstead, Sussex, England (ex. ?)
1635 – Elizabeth Evans – London, England (ex.)
1638 – Linda Downes – Colchester, Essex, England
1635 – Elizabeth Evans – London, England (ex.)
1638 – Linda Downes – Colchester, Essex, England
1658 – Abigall
Hill – St. Olaves, Southwark, England (ex.)
1675 – “The
Bloody Innkeeper’s Wife of Pultoe” – Pultoe, England
1684 – Elizabeth
Ridgway – Leichestershire, England (ex.)
1693 – Mary
Compton, Mary Compton the Younger, Ann David – Poplar, London, Eng.
(ex. x 2)
1740 – Elizabeth & Mary Branch – Taunton, Somerset, England, England (ex. x 2)
1740 – Elizabeth & Mary Branch – Taunton, Somerset, England, England (ex. x 2)
1808 – Mary
Bateman – Leeds, England (ex.)
1816 – Susannah Holroyd – Ashton-under-Line, England (ex.)
1816 – Susannah Holroyd – Ashton-under-Line, England (ex.)
1828 – Jane
Scott – Lancaster, England (ex.)
1835 – Fanny
Billing & Catherine Frary – Burnham Market, Norfolk, England (ex.
x 2)
1843 – Sarah
Dazley – Bedford, England (ex.)
1843 – Elizabeth
Eccles – Bolton, England (ex.)
1844 – Eliza
Joyce – Boston, England (ex.)
1845 – Sarah
Freeman – Bridgewater, England (ex.)
1846 – Mary
Pimlett – Runcorn, England
1847 – Sarah
Chesham – Clavering, near Chelmsford, England (ex.)
1849 – Mary
Ann Geering – Lewes, England (ex.)
1849 – Rebecca
Smith – Westbury, Wiltshire, England (ex.)
1850s – Allie
Belchie – Lintlaw, Buncle Parish, Scotland
1851 – Mary
Emily Cage – Ipswich, England (ex.)
1865 – Charlotte
Winsor – Torquay, England (ex.)
1870 – Margaret
Waters – London, England (ex.)
1871 – Ann
Burns – Wigan, Lancashire, England
1871 – Agnes Norman – London, England (15-y-o)
1871 – Frances (Hannah) Rogers – Manchester, England
1871 – Agnes Norman – London, England (15-y-o)
1871 – Frances (Hannah) Rogers – Manchester, England
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More: Female Serial Killers Executed
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More: Female Serial Killers Executed
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“It is only recently that we have acknowledged that female
serial killers, for example, exist. The FBI still thinks of women who kill as
reluctant sidekicks.” [Katharine Quarmby, “The women that kill, abuse and torture,” Mosaic, May 31, 2016]
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