Mary Ann Cotton was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 woman convicted of murdering her children and believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic

Arsenic

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...

 poisoning.
Mary Ann Robson was born in October 1832 at Low Moorsley (now part of Houghton-le-Spring

Houghton-le-Spring

Houghton-le-Spring is part of the City of Sunderland in the county of Tyne and Wear, North East England that has its recorded origins in Norman times. It is situated almost equidistant between the cathedral city of Durham 7 miles to the south-west and the centre of the City of Sunderland about 6...

 in the City of Sunderland

City of Sunderland

The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...

) and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton

West Rainton

West Rainton is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated between Durham and Houghton-le-Spring. Leamside is about to the west. The village straddles a ridge parallel to the A690 with extensive views to the west.-History:...

 on 11 November. Her father Michael, a miner, was ardently religious and a fierce disciplinarian.

When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton

Murton, County Durham

Murton is a village in County Durham, England. Lying six miles east of the city of Durham and seven miles south of Sunderland, it has a population of 7,339....

, where she went to a new school and found it difficult to make friends.