JEREMIAH GREEN
The 1911 census lists Jeremiah Green, aged 14 years, at the Board of Guardian's Children's Home, St Mary's Road, Portsmouth. He had been living with his family in Portsmouth ten years earlier but they had all left the town by 1911, leaving Jeremiah behind.
The parents of Jeremiah were Henry and Margaret Green. In 1901 Henry was 44 years of age and described in the census as a 'Road Picker', born in Rotherham; Margaret was the same age and a native of Kinsale in Ireland. They were living at 3 Ford's Court, Marylebone Street with their five children, Annie, Margaret, John, William and Jeremiah. There is no further record of them living in Portsmouth.
From his stay at the Children's home Jeremiah must have made swift progress as he had reached the rank of Stoker 1st Class by 1916 when he could only have been in the Navy for a very few years. Unfortunately he found himself posted to HMS Queen Mary which took part in the Battle of Jutland and was struck by two shells causing her magazines to explode, sinking the ship. Over 1200 members of the crew were lost.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) lists Stoker 1st Class Jeremiah Green (K/16170), Royal Navy, died on 31/05/1916, aged 19 years. Remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (Panel 18).
Jeremiah Green is also remembered on the WW1 Memorial at St. John's RC Cathedral and on the Cenotaph. He is listed in the 'National Roll of the Great War', Section X, p91 which gives his address as 12 Orange Street, Portsea.
Tim Backhouse
April 2014