Thomas Kirkham
Agency patch
Officer

Thomas Kirkham

Richmond Police Department — Richmond, VA
Accident
End of Watch July 1, 1869
The Vigil Panel 3 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Officer Thomas Kirkham was killed when he fell from a bridge over the James River connecting Mayo Island and Vauxhall's Island.

He was attempting to control a large crowd during a political rally when the swing-bridge suddenly collapsed, tossing many people into the river. Officer Kirkham was thrown from the bridge as well and was struck in the head by falling timber.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-VA-16196435
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

157 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Officer Kirkham served with the Richmond Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Richmond community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Type Police Department
Location Richmond, VA
Platform Identity rpd.richmond.va.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 1, 1869
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Officer Thomas Kirkham is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In VA, 204 of 656 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.1% of this state's fallen. That is 31.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Richmond Police Department, 17 of 40 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 42.5% of this agency's fallen.

Richmond Police Department
17
of 40 officers
42.5% Accident
VA — Statewide
204
of 656 officers
31.1% Accident
Nationwide
1
of 97,772 officers
0% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Thomas Kirkham's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How Thomas Kirkham Compares

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Thomas Kirkham is highlighted in Jul.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
708
May
848
Jun
797
Jul
899
Aug
938
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location