The title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is an important title that is given to very special cat government officials in the United Kingdom. Employing cats as government officials isn’t a new trend in the United Kingdom either. In fact, there have been cats employed as government mousers since 1515 thanks to Henry VIII’s church officer Cardinal Wolsey. Upon taking the position of Lord Chancellor, Wolsey brought in a resident feline, and cats have resided as government mousers ever since. Today there are over 100,000 cats working as official government officials in the United Kingdom.
Although several cats have been called the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, only 2 of the resident cats at 10 Downing Street have ever been officially given this title: Humphrey and Larry. These two famous felines are the stars of today’s Famous Friday post.
Humphrey is a stray cat who was adopted into 10 Downing Street by a Cabinet Office Civil Servant. He began his position as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office in October 1989. During his employment Humphrey got to work with the Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair.
Humphrey always seemed to be surrounded by scandal during the period that he held his position. These scandals always made the news headlines, including the claims of Humphrey’s predatory behaviour toward birds, and his apparent death where he was believed to have died for many reasons including health problems, and even suspected murder. Despite these outrageous claims, Humphrey happily worked as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office until his retirement on November 17, 1997.
Larry is the newest cat to take the position of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. He too was a stray cat who was taken in by government staff to fill the position. Larry began working on February 15, 2011, and during his first 2 years of employment Larry has already become very popular. Not only has he been featured in newspapers, social media, and on many websites, but he has already published his first book Larry Diaries: Downing Street – The First 100 Days
If you’d like to learn about the other cats who have been unofficially given the title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office Click Here.
Congratulations to one of our past Black Cat Contest winners - Bandit! Click 
