| Thomas McKeown was the son of Samuel and Sarah McKeown. Samuel McKeown and Sarah Brown were married on 14th January 1885 in the district of Cookstown.
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| Thomas was born on 31st July 1890 in Cookstown. He was the second youngest of five children, all surviving.
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| Family: Samuel McKeown, Sarah McKeown, Samuel McKeown (born 16th May 1885), Margaret McKeown (born 11th December 1886), Robert McKeown (born 21st January 1889), Thomas McKeown (born 31st July 1890), Fredrick McKeown (born 21st January 1892).
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| Thomas’s mother died around 1892.
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| Samuel McKeown and Isabella McKeown (nee McKeown) were married on 9th July 1892 in the district of Cookstown.
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| By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Burn Road Cookstown. Thomas had left school and was working a clerk.
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| From a report in the local paper, Thomas’s father became a contractor. Thomas is described as the youngest son so it may be presumed that Frederick had died.
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| In late 1915, Thomas joined the Royal Navy and was serving on H.M.S. Natal as part of the carpenter’s crew.
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| Carpenter’s Crewman McKeown’s first ship was H.M.S. Natal which he joined on 8th December 1915 after training at Pembroke.
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| Natal was a heavy cruiser of the Warrior class and got her name because the funds required to build her came from Natal Province. The ship was completed in 1905 and had a displacement of 13,550 tons. She was re-commissioned at Sheerness on 17th September 1912.
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| Natal was at anchor in Cromarty Firth when she exploded on the afternoon of 30th December 1915. 388 members of the crew lost their lives in the explosion including Thomas McKeown, who has no known grave, though many of those who were killed are buried in the Churchyard at Cromarty.
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| Deterioration of explosives was blamed for the disaster at the time, which happened in the after magazine.
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| Invergordon, Cromarty Firth
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 8th January 1916: Cookstown Man on the Natal
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| Mr Samuel McKeown, contractor, Cookstown, has received intimation from the Admiralty that his youngest son, Thomas McKeown, was rated on H.M.S. Natal in the carpenters’ crew, and does not appear to be in the list of survivors, and it is feared he has lost his life. He joined only a couple of months ago. The First Lord of the Admiralty has sent a letter conveying the sympathy of his Majesty and the Queen with the distressed father.
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| Carpenters Crew Thomas McKeown is commemorated on panel 12 on Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent.
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| Carpenters Crew McKeown is commemorated on Cookstown Cenotaph and First Presbyterian Cookstown Roll of Honour.
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| The CWGC record Carpenters Crew Thomas McKeown as the son of Samuel McKeown of Burn Road, Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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