Hi David.
here is the output from export
marvin:/home/testermike/brother# export COLUMNS=100; dpkg -l | grep mfc240
iFR mfc240ccupswrapper       1.0.0-9             Brother CUPS PTouch 
Printer Definitions
ii  mfc240clpr                          1.0.0-9             Brother lpr 
Inkjet Printer Definitions
this is what I got when trying to remove the above files
marvin:/home/testermike/brother# dpkg -r iFR mfc240ccupswrapper-1.0.0-9
dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove ifr which isn't installed.
dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove mfc240ccupswrapper-1.0.0-9 
which isn't installed.
further evidence of a mess:
marvin:/home/testermike/brother# dpkg --configure mfc240ccupswrapper
dpkg: error processing mfc240ccupswrapper (--configure):
 Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration.
Errors were encountered while processing:
 mfc240ccupswrapper
the reinstall produced the same long list of errors posted in my last 
e-mail.
dpkg doesn't seem to have an option to reinstall (like apt does) for 
broken packages, so I'm stumped.
cheers so far.
Mike