1889-1948

Lawson was born in Huddersfield when his father James Cairns, from Galashiels, was a manager in a woollen mill there. James moved to Langholm in 1906 to join his brother John Cairns (1856-1938) in running Ford Mill after their father died in 1905.

Lawson volunteered for the 1st/9th Royal Scots but was soon transferred as a medic to the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving on the Western Front. He wrote two diaries there in 1915, referring frequently to communications with Langholm.

He was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal for bravery in April 1915 at St Jean, France, in the Battle of Ypres. This was the highest award for non-commissioned officers and ‘men’ (non-officers), apart from the Victoria Cross.

He was one of 23 soldiers who were awarded Langholm’s Burgh Medal in 1919, an honour for those who had gained gallantry medals and were closely connected to the town.

In the photo below from after the ceremony in the Buccleuch Hall, Lawson is behind the left shoulder of the uniformed Earl of Dalkeith (later 8th Duke of Buccleuch). Lawson’s uncle, John Cairns, is in the background, second from right.

His health in later life was not good, partly the result of chlorine gas on the Western Front. He died in Scarborough in 1948, aged 59.