Simon, our featured feline Purr 'n' Fur Famous Felines

Articles in Famous Felines are written by
Patrick Roberts

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Famous Felines

[ Table of Contents ]


As the name suggests, this section tells the stories of a number of cats that for one reason or another have become well known to the wider world. Not all are contemporary; they range from the eighteenth century, with Samuel Johnson's cat Hodge, to the present day with White House cat Socks, and library cat Dewey, who were with us until fairly recently — and there is Nora who's still very much alive. By virtue of their remarkable characters, unusual adventures or both, we feel these felines deserve the description 'famous'.

Shorter tales about other noted cats — a number of them contemporary — whose exploits are less widely known, but we thought still worthy of recording, can be found in the separate Featuring Felines pages.



Contents


Simon of HMS Amethyst
Dickin Medal recipient for his gallantry under enemy fire

with these associated pages...

The Quest for Simon
An account of my research into his story, with further pictures
Tributes to Simon
A selection of tributes sent in by his fans as his fame spread
Lt Cdr Ian Griffiths, his Career and his Cats
Simon's first captain, with previously unseen photos of the 'young Simon'


Socks Clinton
Former First Cat at the White House – and other presidential felines


No. 10 Downing Street Cats
(current resident Larry – and predecessors Sybil, Humphrey, Wilberforce and others)
and other British Government cats


Street Cat Bob and James Bowen
The story of the injured and homeless cat who befriended a recovering heroin addict
and changed his life is now a worldwide bestseller


Faith
Courageous London church cat of WW2, awarded a PDSA Silver Medal
[ more stories of church cats in Featuring Felines ]


Mrs Chippy
who sailed with Shackleton to the Antarctic in the Endurance


Dewey Readmore Books
America's most famous library cat: the book written about him was a runaway success
[ accounts of many more library cats in the Featuring Felines section ]

and also

Antarctic Cats
Other felines (apart from Mrs Chippy above) who went to the frozen south
with exploration expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries


Post-WW2 Antarctic Cats
Felines at research bases in Antarctica
plus
a separate account by Robert Burton of his base companion
Ginge


Colin's Cat
New Zealand tanker terminal cat who took an unscheduled 10,000 km voyage
on a methanol tanker bound for South Korea, a story which made international news


Félicette the space cat
... and Félix, who didn't exist


Hamish McHamish
Well known cat-about-town at St Andrews in Scotland, who had a statue erected to him in his lifetime


Hodge
Samuel Johnson's treasured companion who loved oysters


Kiddo
Kiddo was the first cat to travel by airship, during a bid to cross the Atlantic


Mike and Black Jack
Cats of the British Museum, London


Nora
Celebrity piano player and internet sensation


Peter
The cat(s) at the British Home Office


Room 8
In the 1950s/60s this long-lived Californian school cat with an unlikely name was described
as 'arguably the most famous cat in America', and he is still actively remembered today


Scarlett
Blaze heroine from NYC, who died in Oct 2008


Towser and Barley
Scotch-whisky distillery cats, one a record mouser


Trim
Faithful travelling companion of explorer Matthew Flinders, Trim sailed
around the world and circumnavigated Australia


Check out
Featuring Felines
for more real-life stories of less well known cats


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Other sections:
Featuring Felines
Fans of Felines
Fabled Felines
Feline Folios
Feline Fun
Feline Philately
Feline Fragments
Feline Flotsam

or return to the Purr 'n' Fur home page


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Our featured feline — your companion through the Famous Felines section is Simon of HMS Amethyst.
Simon (see head of the page) remains the only cat ever to have been awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry under enemy fire, in what became known as the 'Yangtse Incident'. Follow the links in the contents list above to read his story, and (in a separate article) my experiences while researching it.






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Page created November 2003, with later additions