widely reported and until the end of the decade the couple were heavily involved in social events. They were popular guests at functions, and became notable figures in the fashionable society of the upper classes. In 1923, Chapman joined a Kent brewery, H & G Symonds. His wife believed that his choice of a career working in the alcohol trade made his life difficult and contributed to his heavy drinking. The social duties associated with his job also contributed to his increased weight and failing fitness in the later part of his cricket career. Further problems arose through his fame; as he wanted to keep people happy, he drank frequently and attended many social functions. Cricket writer Ivo Tennant believes that Chapman's "taste for conviviality was his undoing". He always appeared happy, but Gibson observes "that is the way some men disguise their unhappiness", and Lemmon suggests that Chapman was seeking acceptance and felt lonely at heart. According to Lemmon, by the end of the Second World War, Chapman was largely living in the past, and that "mentally he was still in the happy days of University cricket." Later struggle E. W. Swanton observes that "from the war onwards [Chapman's] life went into a sad eclipse." In 1942, Chapman was divorced from his wife; according to Lemmon, "Beet had stood much, but there is a point for all relationships beyond which one must not go". She returned to live in New Zealand in 1946. After 1946, Chapman shared a house with the steward of West Hill Golf Club, Bernard Benson, and his health continued to deteriorate. He was frequently observed to be drunk in public, although his appearance and manners remained impeccable; the cricket establishment ignored him, regarding him as an embarrassment, particularly on the occasions he watched matches at Lord's. By the end of his life, he was unable to attend any cricket matches. In addition to his alcoholism, Chapman became increasingly isolated, suffering from loneliness and depression. By the 1950s, he had developed arthritis, probably as a result of his sporting activities. On one occasion in 1955, Chapman was invited to a dinner organised by Kent; he was later discovered in the car park on the bumper of a car in a distressed state and had to be assisted back inside. In September 1961, Chapman fractured his knee when he fell at his home. He was taken to