John Cotton

John Cotton was convicted of the murder of his 36-year-old wife Hannah Cotton and sentenced to death.

He was a boatman and had occupied a cabin in a canal boat with his wife at Bugsworth near Whaley Bridge.

He beat her over the head with a poker in the cabin of the canal boat.

On the day of the murder they had been drinking together in the Rose and Crown Inn at Bugsworth where their boat was lying in the canal basin.

It was submitted that John Cotton's behaviour in the public-house was that he was jealous of Hannah Cotton speaking to anyone.

They then returned to their boat at about 6.30pm and shortly after a schoolgirl on her way home with two friends heard screams from the boat. She then gave the alarm at a public-house and when people went to see they saw John Cotton standing over Hannah Cotton with a poker in his hand, assaulting her with it. Hannah Cotton was seen to moan and John Cotton mocked her and threatened and threatened that if she didn't cease crying that he would throw her in the water.

Hannah Cotton was then rescued and medically attended to, and was found to have a fracture at the base of her skull, her condition being described as hopeless. She died shortly after.

A farmer from Bugsworth said that he had been attracted to the spot by the noise of the disturbance, noting that John Cotton had been using fearful language, adding that when Hannah Cotton moaned he mocked her and told her to be quiet. The farmer said that he shouted to John Cotton:

He said that John Cotton had been trying to draw Hannah Cotton out of the cabin, but she was helpless, and that John Cotton declared that he was tired of her.

He said that he heard John Cotton declare:

The farmer said that he then went to the Rose and Crown Inn and fetched assistance and several people soon assembled by the boa. he said that he later found the poker and saw that it was covered with blood and hair, and that he later gave it to the police.

At the trial the farmer said that the real reason he didn't intervene instead of running for help was that he thought that John Cotton might hit him as well. It was noted that his reply, together with the way he said it at the court, provoked laughter, which the judge immediately checked, stating that it was a a most serious case and that such conduct on the part of the public was improper and unbecoming.

The landlord of the Rose and Crown Inn said that when John Cotton and Hannah Cotton left his house that he accompanied them to their boat because of the violent threats that John Cotton had made towards Hannah Cotton and that when he left them they were quieter. He denied that he had accompanied them to their boat because they were drunk, stating that John Cotton had only had one glass of rum, whilst Hannah Cotton had been drinking tea.

He noted that it appeared to him that whilst in his house, John Cotton had appeared jealous of Hannah Cotton speaking to anyone.

At the trial it was noted that John Cotton had told the landlady of the Rose and Crown Inn that he would serve her the same if she said anything about it.

His defence was that he had received provocation.

He was convicted at the Derbyshire Assizes and sentenced to death and executed on 21 December 1898. Following his death he was placed in a grave made out for him between the mortuary and the scaffold at Derby Gaol.

He was said to have walked firmly to the scaffold.

It was said that before his execution that he admitted to having murdered his first two wives as well, an admission that was described as a 'boast'.

Bugsworth is now called Buxworth.

The Rose and Crown Inn has since been demolished and is now directly under the path of the A6.