All Creatures Great and Small: The Animals of Chartwell
Hello and welcome to this special issue of Finest Hour, which looks at my home in Kent. My name is Jock or more formally Jock VI. I proudly work for the National Trust, the charitable organization that owns and maintains many historic properties in the United Kingdom.
Shortly after the Second World War, Chartwell was purchased from Winston Churchill by a group of his friends who donated the property to the National Trust with the proviso that Mr. Churchill should be allowed to stay in residence for the remainder of his life. After her husband’s death in January 1965, Lady Churchill vacated the house, which she had long been preparing for its new role as a museum dedicated to the memory of Sir Winston. Chartwell opened to the public in June of the following year, and has now been one of the most frequently visited Trust properties for more than fifty years.
On hand to greet the first visitors was my predecessor Jock I. Mr. Churchill owned many pets throughout his life for he dearly loved those of us in the animal community. In very old age, he received the birthday gift of an orange marmalade cat. This was a present from his former secretary Sir John “Jock” Colville. Thus Jock I came to reside at Chartwell. Sir Winston, as he was by then, loved his new friend so much that he expressed the desire
