The Story of Mike, 1908 - 1929. The Cat of the British Museum

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Mike the Cat. 1908-1929.

Aerial shot of the British Museum, London.

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 1-28-2026

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Mike (c. 1908 – January 1929) was a cat who guarded the gates of the British Museum and was so famed that Time magazine devoted two articles to him on his death. E. A. Wallis Budge's work describing the life of Mike has been viewed as the zenith of such biographical writing.

Early life In the spring of 1908 "Black Jack", the house cat of the Museum, walked up to the Keeper of Egyptian antiquities E. A. Wallis Budge with a large object in his mouth which he then deposited at the Keeper's feet. The object was a kitten, later known as Mike. The following year Mike began to study under Black Jack who taught the younger cat to stalk pigeons by pointing like a dog. Under Black Jack's guidance Mike would proceed to corner the pigeons, daze them, then bring them to the housekeeper, who would exchange the bird for a morsel of food and milk, and release them unharmed.

Later life

Mike spent twenty years at the British Museum during which time he gained a certain notoriety for avoiding women and disliking dogs. Mike would only accept food from those "who treated him as a man and brother". Interest in Mike spread such that Time magazine described him as "probably the most famed British feline of the 20th Century".

Mike retired from official duties in 1924. He continued to take an interest in the comings-and-goings at the Museum, and was especially active when it came to chasing off the occasional wandering dogs, who reportedly "fled in terror" when he attacked.

In 1927, Mike was featured in an article in the Star, which stated that: "He eyes the scholars—famous men from all countries—as philosophically as the later stream of mere curiosity-hunters. High School girls in trim uniform; London street urchins, who make the portico a playground; black-robed monks, gaily sari-ed Hindu ladies, dapper little Japs, and horn-spectacled tourists, are all alike to him."

When Mike died, Wallis Budge contributed to the Evening Standard an obituary which became the basis of his monograph "Mike, the cat who assisted in keeping the main gate of the British Museum from February 1909 to January 1929". This work includes an ode composed by F. C. W. Hiley which ends:

"Old Mike! Farewell! We all regret you,

Although, you would not let us pet you;

Of cats the wisest, oldest best cat,

This be your motto — Requiescat!"

Great Russell Street.

Mike's tombstone was erected near the Great Russell Street entrance and the inscription reads: "He assisted in keeping the main gate of the British Museum from February 1909 to January 1929."

The tombstone was erected after his death in 1929 but it has disappeared since then.

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The museum's main entrance.

Article from The Illustrated London News, January 10, 1920, picturing E. A. Wallis Budge.

Opening of The North Wing, King Edward VII's Galleries, 1914.

Mike walked around some of the world's most cherished artifacts.

Room 18 – Parthenon statuary from the east pediment and Metopes from the south wall, Athens, Greece, 447–438 BC.

Room 21 – Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, mid-4th century BC.

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