The cat who jumped off a houseboat to find his 'forever family'

Eight years ago, a large tabby cat jumped from a houseboat and wandered into a nearby 16th Century manor house, choosing to become the "wonderful resident cat" and becoming a firm favourite with staff and visitors alike. Horatio decided that day to take up residence at Kelmscott Manor, the former country home of William Morris, best known today for his Victorian-era design work, near Faringdon in west Oxfordshire. Curator Kathy Haslam says Horatio has found his "forever family" on the site. "He adopted us and it wasn't until we took him to the vets that we realised he'd come off a boat. The person who owns the boat was very happy for him to come and live with us," she said. Horatio has lived at the manor house ever since and is so well loved many visitors return to the manor just to see him. Haslam said it was "difficult to know who's more special" - William Morris or Horatio. She recalls that the "gentle giant" tabby just turned up one day, having arrived from a boat on the River Thames. The curator adds Horatio even has his own bank account, which some of the staff pay into to cover some of his expenses such as vets bills. Once, she explained, Horatio went missing "for the best p