circa 1912

Bredhurst Primary School in Kent.

One of the many ways one can procrastinate is by researching one's family tree.

I've drawn a complete blank. My grandfather - Thomas Austin born in 1905 - is second from the right in the middle row. I just can't track him or his family down on the 1911 census, nothing seems to fit.

I'm struck by just how unhappy these children appear.

Updated 14 Nov: Further research indicates that around this time he lost his mother, a sister and two brothers, leaving just him. one other sister (not shown in this image) and his father. I'm not sure how just yet, but there is evidence of a meningitis plague sweeping the Chatham area around this time. How tragically sad.