Wilberforce (tomcat)
The cat Wilberforce (*?, † 1988 ) was from 1973 until 3. April 1987 as Chief Mouser in Downing Street 10 responsible for keeping the mouse population as low as possible.
Live and act
In total, the British government cared for nearly 100 cats and tomcats as civil servants in the 20th century to keep government buildings free of rodents. Wilberforce became known for having the longest “tenure” of all.
Wilberforce, named after the British MP William Wilberforce (1759-1833), came to 10 Downing Street in 1973; it was a gift from the Royal Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) to Edward Heath . The tomcat served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office after Heath three other British Prime Ministers : Harold Wilson , James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher . The press rumored the anecdote , Thatcher had the hangover from Moscow brought a can of sardines, allegedly because there had been there to buy anything else.
Wilberforce "retired" in 1987 and died in 1988. He was succeeded by the tomcat Humphrey . The band Wilberforce the Band , founded in 1987, cited Chief Mouser as the namesake.
literature
- Sandra Choron, Harry Choron, Arden Moore: Planet Cat: A Cat-alog . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2007, ISBN 978-0-618-81259-2 , p. 126. Planet Cat: A Cat-alog in the Google book search.
- J. Stephen Lang: 1001 Things You Always Wanted to Know about Cats . John Wiley and Sons 2004, ISBN 978-0-7645-6926-5 , pp. 353f. 1001 Things You Always Wanted to Know about Cats in Google Book Search.
Web links
- Purr 'n' Furr Famous Felines: Downing Street Cats. Sybil, Humphrey and Wilberforce Report on the Cats Downing Street No. 10, with painting by Wilberforce (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Sandra Choron, Harry Choron, Arden Moore: Planet Cat: A Cat-alog (2007) p. 126
- ↑ Purr 'n' Furr Famous Felines: Downing Street Cats. Sybil, Humphrey, and Wilberforce
- ^ J. Stephen Lang: 1001 Things You Always Wanted to Know about Cats (2004) pp. 353f.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
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Treasury Bill (1924) | Peter (1929-1946) | Munich Mouser (1937–1943) | Nelson (1940s) | Peter II (1946) | Peter III (1946–1964) | Peta (1964-1976) | Wilberforce (1970-1988) | Humphrey (1989-1997) | Sybil (2007-2008) | Freya (2012–2014) | Larry (since 2011)