Source: Leicestershire War Memorials Project.
Thomas was the son of Thomas and Adelaide Green, born in Nottingham on 21st March 1884. His father, Thomas, a pipe maker, and Adelaide (1891 Census) lived at 36 Milk Square with their children Thomas (7) and Eliza (2) In 1901 Thomas junior was a cellar man. He first joined the Royal Navy in October 1902, (from his work as a stone polisher) on a 12 year continuous service engagement, serving on 10 ships or shore establishments, starting as a Stoker 2nd Class and becoming Stoker 1st Class in July 1906. He married Nottingham born Rosa Keetley in 1907. They had three children Esther Ellen, Rosa Clara and Thomas Junior. Thomas left the Royal Navy in 1909 and in 1911 he and Rosa (26) a lace finisher, were living at 6 Sun Hill, Sneinton, with their daughter Esther (1). Thomas was working as a railway porter. Thomas and Rosa with Esther, Rosa Clara and youngest son Thomas, later moved to Leicestershire; their third child, Thomas, was born on 21st November 1912 and was registered at Market Harborough in1913 (1st Quarter). Thomas rejoined the Royal Navy in 1915. There are two more births with the Green/Keetley parentage registered in Market Harborough; Arthur Green (last quarter 1914), and Eliza M Green (2nd Quarter 1917) Why did they move from Nottingham to Lubenham around 1913? The WW1 Naval Casualty transcription (Find My Past) states that Thomas’ next of kin was his wife Rosa who lived on Cotton Row, Lubenham. (Cotton Row is a terrace of cottages at the top end of The Green). Did they move through Thomas’ railway job or for some other reason? The Heritage Group received an enquiry from some visitors at the War Memorial Remembrance Service a few years ago – relatives of someone who kept the Post Office in the village. Lubenham Post Office was kept by a Mrs Jemima Miller (Trade Directory 1916) who was in her late 60s (67) so did the Greens come to help her, with Rosa helping in the Post Office. When Thomas was killed, Rosa and the family moved back to Nottingham. (source: Thomas Green Roll of Honour Nottingham Count Council,) HMS Black Prince was a Duke of Edinburgh-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the early-1900s. Black Prince an armoured 4 funnel cruiser was commissioned in 1906. Transferred from the Mediterranean to the Grand Fleet in December 1914, Black Prince was sunk during the Battle of Jutland, 31st May 1916. Recent research holds to the German account of the ship’s sinking. The Grand Fleet had no positive sightings of Black Prince after 17.42hrs Black Prince briefly engaged the German battleship Rheinland at about 23.35 GMT, scoring two hits with 6-inch shells. Separated from the rest of the British fleet, Black Prince approached the German lines at approximately midnight, possibly thinking they were the Grand Fleet. She turned away from the German battleships, but it was too late. The German battleship Thüringen fixed Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire. Up to five other German ships, including battleships Nassau, Ostfriesland, and Friedrich der Grosse, joined in the bombardment, with return fire from Black Prince being ineffective. Most of the German ships were between 750 and 1500 yards of Black Prince – point blank. Black Prince was hit by at least 12 heavy shells and several smaller ones, sinking within 15 minutes. There were no survivors – 857 being killed. Thomas’ body was not recovered. As a stoker, Thomas Green would have been in the bowels of the ship with no chance of escape.
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Submitted by P. Clements, 2020