Glen Posted 7 March , 2015 Share Posted 7 March , 2015 The above has an obituary in a 1918 local newspaper that reads"Private William Cookson aged 38 of the Lancashire Fusiliers (sic) died at home from the effects of gas poisoning....The Funeral took place at Tonge Church on April 28th and was of a military character. It known from church records that Private Cookson was buried on 25/4/1918.Pte Cookson's records are available and show Discharged 2/6/1916 Para 392 xvi. The records also show that he suffered a GSW in action as cause of discharge. The address in the obituary is different to that on attestation, but there is a memo from the War Pensions Committee that confirms the Thomas Street address. This also gives the date of death as 19/04/1918An undated letter from the Ministry of Pensions states "Death is regarded due to disease contracted or commencing on Active Service" The anomaly is, I can find no record of suffering from Gas Poisoning on his service records, but I have ordered the Death Certificate to see the cause of death. I will of course update as soon as I get any further information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 8 March , 2015 Share Posted 8 March , 2015 Glen The In From the Cold Project will be happy to offer advice once you've got the certificate, if you wish. Please contact us directly (forum posts can often be missed) - see the link in my signature. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted 8 March , 2015 Author Share Posted 8 March , 2015 Thanks John. Will update as soon as I know moreGlen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC78 Posted 12 December , 2019 Share Posted 12 December , 2019 His service papers show that he was discharged on 2 June 1916 due to GSW of left wrist, however as noted above there is some later correspondence that states his death was due to disease contracted on active service. Pension card gives his cause of death as "gen. paralysis of insane aggravated by AS". Do we know what the DC says? Possibly a coincidence, but I note that Southport War Memorial has a Pte W Cookson LNL who appears to be unidentified. Census records for the above man indicate that he was born in Preston and lived in what is now the Greater Manchester area, so I'm not sure what the Southport connection might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC78 Posted 12 December , 2019 Share Posted 12 December , 2019 Various memorials in Middleton have a William Cookson: https://www.mlfhs.org.uk/data/war_memorials_images.php?memorial=536 https://www.mlfhs.org.uk/data/war_memorials_images.php?memorial=617 https://www.mlfhs.org.uk/data/war_memorials_images.php?memorial=985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC78 Posted 23 January Share Posted 23 January It appears that William Cookson was rejected in the last batch about a week or so ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 23 January Share Posted 23 January General paralysis of the insane would normally occur 10 to 30 years after initial infection with syphilis. So, unlikely to have been acquired on active service unless it was Boer War? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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