science

Tibs the Great

Tibs the Great is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tibs the Great rather than just read about it. In short: Tibs the Great (November 1950 – December 1964) was the British Post Office's "number one cat" and kept the post office headquarters in London completely mouse-free during his 14 years of service. He was the son of Minnie, and on his death, several newspapers ran an obituary.

Key takeaways

Tibs the Great belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tibs the Great to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tibs the Great from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tibs the Great (November 1950 – December 1964) was the British Post Office's "number one cat" and kept the post office headquarters in London completely mouse-free during his 14 years of service. He was the son of Minnie, and on his death, several newspapers ran an obituary.

Background Cats had been officially employed by the Post Office to catch rodents since September 1868, when three cats were taken on for a six-month trial period at a rate of one shilling per week, in the London Money Order Office. On 7 May 1869, it was noted that "the cats have done their duty very efficiently". By 1873, the cats were being paid 1s 6d, and cats were being employed in other post offices.

Early life It is thought that Tibs was born in London in November 1950. His father is unknown. His mother was Minnie, another "fine cat".

Career Tibs worked at Post Office Headquarters in London for 14 years, and was officially employed and paid 2s 6d per week. He worked in the basement. He was cared for by Alf Talbut, cleaner at the General Post Office in St. Martin's Le Grand (later known as GPO East), who had also owned his mother, Minnie. During his 14 years, Tibs kept the Post Office headquarters completely free of mice. In 1952, there was "public outrage" that the cats had not had a pay rise since 1873, and the next year there was a question in the House of Commons, asking the Assistant Postmaster-General, David Gammans, "when the allowance payable for the maintenance of cats in his department was last raised?" Gammans replied,

There is, I am afraid, a certain amount of industrial chaos in the Post Office cat world. Allowances vary in different places, possibly according to the alleged efficiency of the animals and other factors. It has proved impossible to organise any scheme for payment by results or output bonus. These servants of the State are, however, frequently unreliable, capricious in their duties and liable to prolonged absenteeism. My hon. and gallant Friend has been misinformed regarding the differences between rates for cats in Northern Ireland and other parts of the United Kingdom. There are no Post Office cats in Northern Ireland. Except for the cats at Post Office Headquarters who got the special allowance a few years ago, presumably for prestige reasons, there has been a general wage freeze since July, 1918, but there have been no complaints! He also hastened to assure the House that Post Office cats had "an adequate maternity service", and that equal pay prevailed in the group.

In media In 1953, Tibs was featured in a book titled Cockney Cats by Warren Tute and Felix Fonteyn. He also appeared at a "Cats and Film Stars" party.

Death Tibs died in December 1964; he had been suffering from oral cancer. He received obituaries in several newspapers. By the time of his death he had grown to 23 lb (10 kg) in weight, probably due to living in one of the staff dining rooms, rather than from eating rats. The last cat employed at Post Office headquarters was Blackie, who died in 1984, which coincided with cloth sacks being replaced with rodent-resistant plastic sacks.

See also Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office Stubbs, an American cat appointed honorary mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska Tama (cat), Stationmaster of Kishi Station, Wakayama, Japan List of individual cats

References

Further reading Tute, Warren; Felix Fonteyn (1953). Cockney Cats. London: Museum Press.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tibs the Great

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tibs the Great claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tibs the Great before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tibs the Great ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tibs the Great

In research: Tibs the Great appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tibs the Great in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tibs the Great is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 animal births, 1964 animal deaths, Animal deaths from cancer, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tibs the Great outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tibs the Great in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tibs the Great means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tibs the Great out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tibs the Great in simple terms?

Why does Tibs the Great matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tibs the Great?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tibs the Great.