A Memoir of Joseph Chatt

School of Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science, University of Sussex, Brighton BNl 9QJ, UK 

Whatever he undertook to do he did with great thoroughness, whether it was chemistry or not. At one time he was interested in antique furniture, and I can recall being lectured on how to determine the age of a chair by examining the 

He was an avid collector of coins from his youth, and specialised in English and British Empire and Commonwealth coins. He had sets of Maundy money from every English (British) sovereign who had issued such coins. At his death he was working on a catalogue of Peace Medals, medals that were struck in towns all over Britain to celebrate the end of the First World War, but which had never been listed. 

He was also very lucky. This showed not only in his career and perhaps in his chemical intuition, but also, sometimes, in his hobbies. He once bought a jardiniere at a sale in aid of Sussex churches. It was said to be Sevres, and it was not expensive. Subsequently he decided to take it to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, to confirm that it was an imitation and not really a Sevres product. The curator initially agreed that it could not be genuine, so Joseph asked to be shown the Museum collection, which, of course, consists only of genuine items. As they proceeded to inspect the display, starting at the later and moving to the earlier, Joseph s jardiniere resembled more and more the Museum items, and finally the curator had to admit that the jardiniere was a genuine and very rare early Sevres piece, and certainly worth much more than he had paid for it. 

Encouraged by learning that the Romans had once found gold in the Lake District, Joseph hunted for it in the fells around the family farm, though for once 

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