FOUR DOCUMENTS ON THE DEATH OF MARY ANN COTTON
- Telegram from James Young, Deputy Governor of Durham County Prison, to John Milnes Favell the Coroner for Chester Ward, Co. Durham, dated 22nd March 1873: 'Mary Ann Cotton is to be executed on Monday morning at the usual hour please make arrangements to hold inquest'
- Official Crown warrant, a single sheet filled and signed in ink by the Coroner dated 22nd March 1873, authorizing the Constables of Elvet to assemble a jury; the mss. names of 13 male jurors including the Foreman are listed on the verso
- Five signed witness statements recorded by the Coroner, from the Deputy Governor, Surgeon and Wardens of Durham Prison, identifying Cotton's body (1 sheet)
- Ink mss. 'Inquisition' death certificate in a neat clerical hand on a single large sheet of parchment, signed by the 13 jurors plus Favell, each having made their mark on the wax seals beside their signatures.
All documents with some expected splitting to the folds, and general soiling and staining. The telegram on thin and fragile, very browned paper, with two vertical folds reinforced from the verso. All the documents are clearly legible and without significant loss.
Mary Ann Cotton was found guilty of murdering, by poisoning, three of her husbands and is strongly suspected of also murdering 11 of her children. She was hanged on the 24th March 1873 at Durham Prison. With some recent newspaper articles on this notorious case. (4)