Meet the Cats of the National Trust
From Sir Winston Churchill and Thomas Hardy, to Betty Hussey, who left her cat – along with her house – to the National Trust: we meet some of the fabulous felines that reigned in these stately homes and the people who loved them.
Chartwell, Kent: Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine owned many a cat – and not all of them well-behaved. One day, his tabby, Mickey, started playing with a telephone cord while Churchill was on the phone to his Lord Chancellor. ‘Get off the line, you fool!’ exclaimed Winston, before quickly assuring the Chancellor, ‘Not you!’.
Perhaps the most famous of Churchill’s cats was Jock, an 88th birthday gift. The marmalade, who had four white paws and a white bib, became so much a part of life at Chartwell that when the house passed to the National Trust, Churchill’s family requested that a marmalade cat with the same white markings always be in ‘comfortable residence’. The Trust honours this request and the current incumbent is Jock VI.
Max Gate, Dorset: Thomas Hardy
From Comfy and Kitsey to Kiddleywinkempoops (‘Trot’ for short), the writer Thomas Hardy and his wife, Emma, owned at least nine cats while living at Max Gate. Others included Pella, who met her unfortunate end at the hands of a train, and Cobby, a blue Persian rumoured to have disappeared without a trace after Thomas’s death in 1928.
The couple adored their pets, inviting them to mealtimes regardless of whether they had human guests. Many are commemorated with ivy-covered gravestones in Max Gate’s garden and one, Snowdove, was even posthumously the subject of Hardy’s mournful 1904 poem, ‘Last Words to a Dumb Friend’.
Montacute, Somerset: Elinor Glyn
In 1907, the romantic novelist Elinor Glyn embarked on a passionate affair with Lord Curzon. In 1911, Curzon leased Montacute House, which had fallen into disrepair, and invited Elinor to live with him. For 18 months she endured freezing temperatures to help knock Montacute into shape. Curzon repaid her with an engagement announcement in The Times – to another woman. Elinor left Montacute and never spoke to him again.
Glamorous Elinor was devoted to her two fluffy cats, Candide and Zadig. In March 1939, when attending a literary lunch as a guest speaker, she even wore, ‘with fine panache, her huge Persian cat, Candide, asleep around her neck’ (Anthony Glyn, 1955). According to Anthony, the cats were ‘beautiful, proud, independent creatures … in many ways very like their mistress’.
Scotney Castle, Kent: Betty Hussey
In the grounds of fourteenth-century Scotney Castle is a fountain. On one edge, a stone cat lies with its paw dangling over the side, lazily attempting to catch a fish.
The fountain was commissioned by Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Hussey. Since moving to Scotney in 1952, Betty had always owned a Burmese cat, each one named Minou (French for ‘kitty’). The same name is engraved on to the collar of the statue, which she had created for her 90th birthday and funded by selling some of her jewellery.
![Oil painting on canvas, Elizabeth (Betty) Kerr-Smiley, Mrs Christopher Hussey (1907-2006) in Middle Age by John Ward, RA (Hereford 1917 - 2007), signed in brown at the bottom left: J Ward '65' [1965]. A three-quarter length portrait, seated slightly to right, looking out, gazing at the spectator, in a green sofa with two embroidered cushions, and with japanned etagere behind her, a black cat in her lap, looking out; wearing blue dress, plum-coloured cardigan over her shoulders, and single-row pearl necklace. Mid brown hair, and green eyes.](https://i0.wp.com/katzenworld.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/cms_sco2389-National-Trust-Charles-Thomas.jpg?resize=1000%2C834&ssl=1)
Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton: Rosalie, Lady Mander
Rosalie, Lady Mander met Ricardo of Pimlico (or Ricky), at Pimlico Tube Station. He was a stray cat and she adopted him. The two travelled together from Lady Mander’s London flat to her William Morris-filled home, Wightwick Manor, sharing a ham sandwich on the train (she had the bread, he the ham).
Ricky wasn’t Lady Mander’s only cat. Miss Tabby Cat received a dedication in Rosalie’s 1981 anthology of feline-focused writings, CATegories: ‘Without whom sitting Sphinx-like on the desk or playing “with sportive grace”, kittenish on the keys, this book would have been finished much sooner.’
Discover more aristo-cats past and present in Cats of the National Trust (£9.99, National Trust Books), out now!
Love these famous cat stories!
Wow! This is awesome! I keep changing my mind on what to do if I die before my babies!
The national trust has a lot of awesome places with cats. 🙂
We know all about the human inhabitants of these famous buildings so why not hear about the feline inhabitants.
They did include quite a few fun facts about the resident cats.
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we humans need to learn more about feline history.
Most certainly need to!
Felines are Fabulous!
🙂
Proof that there will always be crazy cat ladies/men!
Indeed 🙂
Very cool storeis of famous people & their beloved cats! I admire Scotney Castle but knew very little about it or about Betty Hussey! Excellent to learn more about her & the Castle. (I based on of my short stories on that very castle many years ago.)
Sherri-Ellen & BellaDharma x0x0
Thanks ^^
Really enjoyed this really very interesting. x,????
Thank you ^^