Simpkin is the name of the resident cat at

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

. The college's tradition of keeping a

mouser Mouser may refer to: * A working cat used for hunting rodents, e.g. a farm cat or ship's cat * Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, the official resident cat of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom * Mouser Electronics, an online distributor ...

was started in the early 1970s by the former college principal

Geoffrey Warnock Sir Geoffrey James Warnock (16 August 19238 October 1995) was an English philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Before his knighthood (in the 1986 New Year Honours), he was commonly known as G. J. Warnock. Life Warnock was born ...

. The college's cat is named Simpkin after a character in the children's book, ''

The Tailor of Gloucester ''The Tailor of Gloucester'' is a Christmas Children's literature, children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, privately printed by the author in 1902, and published in a trade edition by Frederick Warne & Co. in October 1903. The ...

'', by

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

. To date, Hertford College has had four college cats called Simpkin. The first three were black with white chest and feet, but the current one, Simpkin IV, is entirely black.

Simpkin I (mouser from c.1971 – ?)

Simpkin I, originally named Blanca, was given to the daughter of Hertford College's then principal, Geoffrey Warnock, and arrived at the college as a kitten. Renamed Simpkin after the character in ''

'', he gained public notoriety on one occasion by having to be rescued from a high roof at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

by the local fire brigade.

Simpkin II (1986 – 17 Dec 1999)

Simpkins (aka Simpkin II) was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1986, and arrived at the college in that year. Noted for being a keen hunter, he is mentioned in the book ''College Cats of Oxford and Cambridge'' as stalking and then being forced to flee by an angry

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

drake. Simpkins died on 17 December 1999, aged 14 years. He was succeeded very briefly by a white kitten called "Sir G", who was stolen soon after arriving on campus.

Simpkin III (2000 – Aug 2016)

Simpkin III came to Hertford College in 2000, and served as mouser for 15 years. A notable event of his career was an occasion where he boarded a milk delivery van and was inadvertently carried to

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, over 50 miles away. He died in August 2016 and his remains buried in Hertford College's OB

Quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...

Simpkin IV (2017 – )

Simpkin IV, the current incumbent mouser, was originally called Buddy, and was 4 or 5 years old when he joined the college. He was found as a stray in the

Torbay Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of ...

region and, after various adventures, ended up at the nicest home of his life, the college, after Christmas 2017. He is known for incursions into the territory of Walter, the mouser of

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

; in January 2022 he was formally banned from entry to Exeter's library. Simpkin IV has his own Instagram page, operated on his behalf by the Hertford College JCR.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpkin (cat) Individual cats in England Working cats Hertford College, Oxford