Humphrey (c. 1988 – March 2006) was a cat employed as a mouser at 10 Downing Street from October 1989 to 13 November 1997. Arriving as a one-year old stray, he served under the premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair, but retired a few months after the Blairs moved in to Downing Street. He was the successor to Wilberforce. He was frequently referred to in jest by the Press as an actual employee at Number 10.
Humphrey was foun...
more
Humphrey (c. 1988 – March 2006) was a cat employed as a mouser at 10 Downing Street from October 1989 to 13 November 1997. Arriving as a one-year old stray, he served under the premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair, but retired a few months after the Blairs moved in to Downing Street. He was the successor to Wilberforce. He was frequently referred to in jest by the Press as an actual employee at Number 10.
Humphrey was found as a stray by a Cabinet Office civil servant and named in honour of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the archetypal civil servant of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. After the death of the previous mouser, Wilberforce, in 1988 the Cabinet Office and Number 10 were in need of a replacement and so Humphrey began his work.
At a cost of about £100 a year (paid for from the Cabinet Office's budget), most of which went toward food, Humphrey was said to be of considerably better value than the Cabinet's professional pest controller, who charged £4,000 a...
less
