Genealogists never die...

"...they just lose their census." Or, if they are me, they do actually inadvertently 'dye'.

Spent all day today simply cleaning and tidying the house - trying to tackle the utility room in particular. After the 'summer' holidays, it really is horrible in there. Various boxes of recycling compete in height with piles of clothes. Here sits the leviathan in-basket for dirty laundry: you could, if it were not made of wicker, take a comfortable bath in it. But most of the basket (until today) actually contained a motley collection of coat-hangers, assorted belts, odd socks and the kind of clothes that you just don't ever put in the wash.

Well, I more or less sorted it out and for the first time in nearly a year, the giant wicker basket was almost empty (how long will that last, I wonder?). I turned my attention then to the 'out-basket' which fits neatly in the utility sink - containing folded, dry and clean clothes waiting for my iron.

However, I soon noticed that these clothes were either damp or sodden, and further investigation revealed that the tap sitting behind this pile had been accidently turned on, and has been seeping cold water into the laundry for what must be a good few days now. And my husband's British Virgin Islands rugby shirt has leeched bright green dye all over the rest of the sopping clothes.

Just as added proof about Thomas Chapman, I received the registration of Jane Chapman's younger sister Georgiana's 1874 wedding to solicitor Samuel Joseph Last. This states the occupation of Jane and Georgiana's father Thomas Chapman as Optician (-and charmingly, it stated the occupation of Samuel Last's father as a Portmanteau Manufacturer).