Granville Murray-Browne, born on 5th May 1885, was admitted to King Edward’s School in January 1898 as a Foundation Scholar. He lived with his mother, Marion, and his father, the Reverend Charles, at The Vicarage, Trafalgar Road, Moseley.
At School, Granville held his own academically, but there is no mention of his other activities, probably because he left after only one year at a particularly young age to join the Royal Navy.
The 1901 Census reveals that Granville, aged 15, was a Naval Cadet at Dartmouth. In 1902, he became a Midshipman, serving first on HMS Hogue and from 1904 on HMS Kent. He became a Sub-Lieutenant in 1905, and after studying at Portsmouth he joined HMS Dragon in 1906. By December 1907, Granville had reached the rank of Lieutenant, and joined HMS Victorious the following year. From 1909, he commanded TB106 (tender to HMS Vivid at Devonport), and, from December 1909, TB055 (tender to HMS Hood at Queenstown). The 1911 Census reveals that Granville was living on King’s Terrace, Queenstown, Cork, while serving on HMS Achilles, and in June 1913 he was stationed aboard HMS Indefatigable as a Lieutenant Commander. Granville was killed at the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916, aged thirty-one, his ship being sunk with all hands by the Von der Trann. He is commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial, and he left his estate of £99 to his brother, Wilfred.
Granville’s papers, consisting of intelligence reports from his time on the Indefatigable, were presented to the Royal Museums, Greenwich, after the war, and his diary from the same period is kept in the Gloucestershire Archives.