Roll of Honor
Incident
Soon after 5:00pm on Saturday 13th October 1894, Police Fireman Cookson was demonstrating how to use a new fire escape, a canvas chute, at the Orange Club in Richmond Terrace, Blackburn. He entered the chute feet-first at the top floor but, about thirty feet from the ground, he was seen to turn over in the chute and fell head-first to the roadway below, sustaining serious head injuries.
He was taken to the local infirmary but died soon after arriving there.
Robert was survived by his wife and four children.
Survivors
Robert was survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-GB-BPF-90499B92- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 8, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
132 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Fireman Cookson served with the Blackburn Police Fire Brigade.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Fireman Robert Cookson is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In ENG, 1,349 of 2,827 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 47.7% of this state's fallen. That is 16.7 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Blackburn Police Fire Brigade, 3 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 100% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert Cookson's cause is highlighted.
How Robert Cookson Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Robert Cookson is highlighted in Oct.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Blackburn Police Fire Brigade are honored on badge.nw.
