It was a story which gripped Victorian Britain: One hundred and fifty years ago, multiple murderer Mary Ann Cotton was executed at Durham prison by the prolific hangman William Calcraft.
In an age long before the dawn of radio, television and the internet, the details of Cotton's trial and subsequent hanging were followed in the flourishing regional newspapers of the time by millions up and down the country with morbid fascination.
The 40-year-old was swiftly demonised, becoming widely known as the 'black widow' and being described as a ‘monster in human shape’ by the Newcastle Chronicle. Her notoriety even reached as far as the playground. North East children would recite a chilling nursery rhyme: “Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing? Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string. Where, where? Up in the air, sellin’ black puddings a penny a pair.”
