Mrs Chippy the Cat

This is the tale of Mrs Chippy, a tomcat who was a loyal and loved companion to the crew on Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 expedition to the Antarctic aboard the Endurance. The cat proved to be a great rat-catcher, and the crew felt he was their lucky charm. The ship’s carpenter, Chippy McNeish, is buried in Karori Cemetery in Wellington, and a statue of the cat lies on his grave.