Wilberforce ( – 19 May 1988) was a cat living at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...

who was employed as the

chief mouser to the Cabinet Office Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the title of the official resident cat at 10 Downing Street, the residence and executive office of the prime minister of the United Kingdom in London. There has been a resident cat in the British governmen ...

from 1973 to 1987. He served throughout the premierships of four prime ministers:

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. In

obituaries An obituary (obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Acc ...

published shortly after his death, he was described as the "best mouser in Britain".

Early life and career

Wilberforce was an eight-week-old kitten when he was adopted from the

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' twig'' usuall ...

of the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

in 1973. He was appointed the Downing Street

office manager Office management is a profession involving the design, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of the process of work within an office or other organization, in order to sustain and improve efficiency and productivity. Office management is ...

's cat to deal with a mouse infestation, and given a living allowance. He was named ''Wilberforce'' in honour of the English

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

. Downing Street staff would reply to mail sent to him "wanting to know how he was, ishinghim luck". Despite his role as

, he rarely visited the Cabinet room, instead preferring the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

11 Downing Street 11 Downing Street (sometimes referred to as just Number 11) is the official residence of Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer (who traditionally also has the title of Second Lord of the Treasury). The residence, in Downing Street in London, ...

and the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

. According to Bernard Ingham, the former

Downing Street Press Secretary The Downing Street Press Secretary is an adviser to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on news media and how to manage the image of the British government to the press. The position is part of the Prime Minister's Office and involves using ...

once bought Wilberforce "a tin of

sardines "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the Ital ...

in a Moscow supermarket". Thatcher chose sardines, according to ''The Daily Telegraph'', because "there was nothing else to buy". Wilberforce would regularly sleep on and under Ingham's desk, which irritated Ingham due to his

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

. When resident ducks from nearby

St James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...

had eggs that were about to hatch, Thatcher "made sure ilberforcewas kept out of the way". During the BBC's coverage of the 1983 general election,

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and fou ...

held Wilberforce and introduced him to viewers. Noting his longevity, in 1985 the ''Sunday Mirror'' stated that Wilberforce "seem dto go on forever"; in December 1986, anticipating the 1987 general election, the ''

Lincolnshire Echo The ''Lincolnshire Echo'' is a weekly British regional newspaper for Lincolnshire, whose first edition was on Tuesday 31 January 1893, and is published every Thursday. It is owned by Reach PLC and it is distributed throughout the county. The ...

'' said this of Wilberforce:

Retirement and death

Wilberforce retired on 3 April 1987, after 14 years of service under four different prime ministers. He went to live in

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

with a retired caretaker from Number 10; before his departure, Thatcher gave Wilberforce a leaving gift. He died in his sleep on 19 May 1988, aged 15. Upon his death,

, who was in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

at the time, said that he was "very sorry that the longest resident has died".

, who had been "extremely fond" of Wilberforce, expressed his regrets;

's wife Audrey was reportedly "shocked". Thatcher was given the news of his death at the end of the daily

Cabinet meeting A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries ...

, and stated that she was "very sad". In various newspaper stories and

covering his death, Wilberforce was described as the "best mouser in Britain". He was buried near his retirement home.

Early life and career

Retirement and death

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Further reading