Humphrey (cat)

Humphrey

Humphrey after his retirement
Species	Cat
Sex	Male
Born	c. 1988 London, United Kingdom
Died	March 2006 (aged 17/18) London, United Kingdom
Nation from	British
Occupation
Employer	Cabinet Office
Title	Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office
Term	1989–97
Predecessor	Wilberforce
Successor	Sybil
Owner	Cabinet Office
Appearance	black and white fur
Named after	Humphrey Appleby

Humphrey (c. 1988 – March 2006) was a cat employed as the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 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, retiring six months after the Blairs moved into 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 towards food, Humphrey was said to be of considerably better value than the Cabinet's professional pest controller, who charged £4,000 a year and is reported to have never caught a mouse.

Frequently pictured posing by the famous Number 10 front door, Humphrey's primary duties involved catching mice and rats in the maze of Downing Street buildings. The poor quality of the buildings, some of which date from the 16th century, and the nearby St. James's Park ensure a continuous vermin problem. By the time of his retirement, Humphrey had risen to the position of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.