Cockburn, Andrew

Andrew Cockburn. He was born 7 September 1871 to Alexander, a blacksmith b. ca. 1827 (?) in Berwickshire, and Annie (nee Black; b. ca. 1855 ? at Goar, Forfarshire; her year of birth seems to be incorrect) Cockburn in Kelso, Roxburgh, Scotland, who had married 7 June 1867 in Kelso. His known brothers and sisters were Agnes, b. 30 March 1868, Jane, b. 13 February 1870, Elizabeth, b. 4 February 1874, Alexander, b. (21 October) 1877,  James, b. 1884, and John, b. 1887.  In 1891, he lived in Kelso with his family and was noted as agricultural engine and implement agent and repairer, as was his father. He then received marine experience and technical training (as a marine engineer) at Leith and at Newcastle and seems to have moved to Lancashire within a few years after this. He joined the Cunard Company around 1893 and first served on the Lucania and Campania and then on others of the company’s vessels, including the Aquitania. In the summer of 1897 he married Laura Forrett in the West Derby district of Liverpool.  In 1911, he lived in Walton on the Hill, West Derby (near Liverpool), Lancashire, with his wife Laura, 38, and their three daughters Margaret Alexandra, 8 (b. 1902), Flora Jane, 3 (b. 1908), and Nancy Laura, 1 (b. 1910). He was noted as a sea going marine engineer. He held a Chief Engineer’s Certificate. He was the Senior 2nd Engineer on the Lusitania and was on the 8 to 12 watch the morning of the sinking. He was outside of his cabin on C deck when the torpedo struck the ship. He survived the sinking of the Lusitania, reportedly being rescued by the ‘Indian Empire’ after having clung to an upturned lifeboat for four hours. In 1918, he was chief engineer of the Aurania when she was torpedoed off the north coast of Ireland and ran ashore on the west coast of Scotland. He was later chief engineer of the Mauretania, from 1919 to 1933, when he retired from the sea.  In 1929 he lived in Southampton. He was awarded the O. B. E. In 1935 and passed away on 16 August 1955 in Shirley, Southampton, England.

Daily Record, 11 May 1915. Courtesy of The British Newspaper Archive.