James Dawson

About 5.30am on the morning of Thursday 19th February 1885, within the Knuzden Brook Mill, a weaver was lighting up the gas lamps on the 4th floor of the mill. As he went to light a lamp a spark found its way down and some fluff which had gathered on the tinder dry gas pipes set alight. The fire spread quickly, despite efforts to quell it. The alarm was raised and the building was evacuated but for an unknown reason there was no call to the police station until nearly 45 minutes after the fire broke out.

PC Dawson had just finished his night duty and had been in bed just a couple of minutes before he got the call to return to duty.

On arriving at the mill the Fire Brigade found that the roof of the mill had already caved in and was completely destroyed. They began to fight the fire hoping at least to save the surrounding buildings. They were, however, handicapped by the meagre amount of water obtained from the hydrants belonging to the Oswaldtwistle Water Company.

About 8:00am the Fire Brigade began to try to save the material that was stored in a lower room of the mill. Everything was a mass of ruins, the heat was unbearable and seven people, including Police Constables Dawson and Clayton, were concentrating their efforts to save whatever they could from the one place where the fire had not yet penetrated.

The Fire Brigade was concentrating on the east side of the mill and stationed near a doorway situated in a recently added part of the premises when the seven men entered a room immediately beneath a fireproof room containing a quantity of machinery, when the flooring near a hoist gave way and the whole weight fell through and buried those underneath.

A rescue attempt immediately commenced and for nearly three hours they worked on the rubble until the body of PC Dawson was discovered, still with a fire hose in his hand. He was found to be unconscious and was taken to the Knuzden Brook Inn but later died of his injuries.

The Superintendent in charge of the police at the mill dispatched a messenger to the Town Hall asking for assistance from the Borough Surveyor’s Department. The Borough Surveyor and a team of workers arrived to clear away the debris that was covering the bodies of the others.

At first it was reported that only PC Dawson had been killed and one of the first persons to visit Mrs Dawson to comfort her was Mrs Clayton, not knowing that her own husband had also perished under the rubble.

PC Dawson’s beat was mainly in King William Street, where he was known and greatly respected for his quiet assuming manners and kind and genial disposition.

He was born in Preston in 1852 and joined the army as soon as he was old enough. At the end of his service he joined the Reserve Force and served the 47th Regiment during the Turko-Russian War and eventually joined the Blackburn Police Force. He was appointed drill inspector to the force and rapidly promoted to First Class and received the Badge of Merit. When the Police Fire Brigade was formed the Chief Constable chose PC Dawson as one of its first members.

He was married and left a widow and four children.