Peter II
Government letter regarding Peter's death
Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office
In role
December 1946 – 21 June 1947
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byNelson
Succeeded byPeter III
Personal details
Bornc. (1946-10-00)October 1946
Died (aged 7–8 months)
Westminster, London, England
Cause of deathStruck by a car
ResidenceHome Office
OccupationMouser

Peter II (c. October 1946 – 21 June 1947) was a cat who was employed as the chief mouser to the Cabinet Office from 1946 to 1947, during the premiership of Clement Attlee. He was a two-month-old kitten when appointed to the role. Peter served just six months; in the early hours of 21 June 1947 he was struck by a car near the Cenotaph in Whitehall, and died shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by Peter III.

Life, career and death

Whitehall and the Cenotaph in 1947, where Peter was struck

Peter was born c. October 1946.[1] He was appointed chief mouser to the Cabinet Office in December 1946, when he was two months old, during Clement Attlee's premiership.[1] His appointment occurred one month after Peter was euthanised on 14 November 1946 at the age of 17 owing to his no longer being an "efficient cat" and having "outlived his usefulness".[2][3]

The young kitten served a truncated term; in the early hours of 21 June 1947, around six months after his appointment,[2] Peter was struck by a car driven by a "Mr. R. B. Bisgood" in Whitehall while walking from the Home Office to the Cenotaph,[4] receiving "injury to the head, right shoulder and a lacerated jaw".[5][6] After the collision, a police constable brought Peter to the door of the Home Office building at 3:15 am, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was phoned five minutes later; their representative arrived on the scene at 3:35 am.[5] Peter was "put to sleep" on the advice of the RSPCA attendant, with Bisgood paying 2s for the procedure.[5] Speaking in 2017, Chris Day, the head of Modern Domestic Records at the National Archives, said that Peter "did not have the same illustrious career that his forebears did";[4] in 2022 the British magazine Tatler stated that "[h]ad he survived longer, no doubt his career would have been just as illustrious".[7] On 27 August 1947 he was succeeded by Peter III, who would serve as chief mouser for over 16 years.[4][8]

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Day, Christopher (2016). Larry, the Chief Mouser and other official cats. Stroud, United Kingdom: Pitkin Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84-165761-5.
  2. 1 2 Fenton, Ben (4 January 2005). "Cats that left a mark in the corridors of power". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "Home Office cat history revealed". BBC News. 4 January 2005. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Day, Chris; Whitworth, Carriane (29 March 2017). "Bureau-cats: A short history of Whitehall's official felines". The National Archives. Archived from the original on 6 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Day, Chris (7 June 2016). "The bureaucats at the heart of government". The National Archives. Archived from the original on 6 July 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "Whiskers in the workplace: More cats with careers". BBC News. 3 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  7. ↑ Coke, Hope (4 November 2022). "A Prime Minister's best friend!". Tatler. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Home Office lose a hired killer.". Daily Mirror. 10 March 1964. p. 3. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
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