WBenson was "Britain's biggest and best-loved" common carp. Benson's popularity was such that she was caught 63 times in 13 years, although the accessibility that made her popular was also the cause of controversy among angling's elite. She has also been referred to as "the people's fish" and was voted by readers of Angler's Mail as Britain's Favourite Carp in 2005.
WCasper was a male domestic cat who attracted worldwide media attention in 2009 when it was reported that he was a regular bus commuter in Plymouth in Devon, England. He appeared on BBC News, was the subject of a newspaper editorial in The Guardian, and had a book written about him, Casper the Commuting Cat. Casper died on 14 January 2010 after being hit by a taxi.
WChalky was TV chef Rick Stein's rough-haired Jack Russell Terrier dog, who regularly accompanied Stein when filming his popular cookery shows and became recognised and popular in his own right - many of Stein's friends and interviewees claimed he was more famous than the chef himself.
WCher Ami was a female homing pigeon who had been donated by the pigeon fanciers of Britain for use by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France during World War I and had been trained by American pigeoners. She is famous for delivering a message from an encircled battalion despite serious injuries during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, October 1918.
WCopenhagen was the Duke of Wellington's war horse, which he most famously rode at the Battle of Waterloo. Copenhagen was of mixed Thoroughbred and Arabian parentage, with his dam being sired by The Derby winner John Bull and his sire Meteor finishing second in the Derby. Copenhagen was foaled in 1808 and was named in honour of the British victory at the Second Battle of Copenhagen. Copenhagen did race in England for a short period, winning two races and finishing at least third in nine races out of his 12 career starts. Copenhagen was sent to Spain with Sir Charles Vane in 1813 and was then sold to the Duke of Wellington. Becoming his favourite, Copenhagen was the Duke's mount in the Battle of Waterloo. The horse was retired to the Duke's estate Stratfield Saye House and lived there for the remainder of his life, dying on 12 February 1836 at the age of 28 years. His grave site is marked with a marble headstone that is situated under a Turkey Oak planted in 1843.
WDash (1830–1840) was a King Charles Spaniel owned by Queen Victoria. Victoria's biographer Elizabeth Longford, called him "the Queen's closest childhood companion", and in the words of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, he "was the first in a long line of beloved little dogs".
WDolly was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer.
WThe Durham Ox was a steer who became famous in the early 19th century for his shape, size and weight. He was an early example of what became the Shorthorn breed of cattle and helped establish the standards by which the breed was to be defined.
WHercules was a trained grizzly bear from Scotland who appeared in a number of cameo roles for various television productions, reaching the height of his popularity in the 1980s.
WHumphrey was a cat employed as the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from October 1989 to 13 November 1997.
WJeremy was a left-coiled garden snail investigated by biologists. Jeremy died on 11 October 2017, aged "at least two" years. The snail had a rare genetic mutation which caused its shell to coil to the left; in most snails the shell coils to the right. Environmental factors may have caused the left coiling although it is not definitely proven to be a factor and is considered unlikely. This probable mutation is extremely rare, believed to only occur once in a million individuals. The snail was named after the left-wing British Labour politician Jeremy Corbyn, on account of it being a "lefty" snail, but also due to Corbyn's reported love of gardening. The snail became famous worldwide after a public appeal to find other left-coiled snails for a mate.
WJumbo, also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and then transferred in 1865 to London Zoo in England. Despite public protest, Jumbo was sold to P. T. Barnum, who took him to the United States for exhibition in March 1882.
WLarry is a cat who has served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street since 2011. He is a brown-and-white tabby, believed to have been born in January 2007. By July 2016, when Theresa May became prime minister, he had developed a reputation of being "violent" in his interactions with other local mousers, especially the Foreign Office's much younger cat Palmerston.
WHamish McHamish was a ginger cat who lived in the town of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. He came to national and international prominence after the publication of a book entitled Hamish McHamish of St Andrews: Cool Cat About Town.
WMick the Miller was a male brindle Greyhound. He is celebrated as the first great racing greyhound to compete in England. Despite a short three-year racing career, his achievements were highly publicised around the world and by the end of his career he had become an icon in the sport. His achievements include winning nineteen races in a row, including the English Greyhound Derby on two successive occasions. He suffered an injury at Wimbledon Stadium whilst racing which broke the streak in 1931, and once recovered was beaten in the attempt to win a third Derby title. He went on to appear in films, and is still considered one of the greatest sporting heroes in the UK.
WMike was a cat who guarded the gates of the British Museum whose fame was such 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.
WObaysch was the first hippopotamus seen in Great Britain since prehistoric times, and the first in Europe since Ancient Rome. He was captured on an island on the White Nile when he was less than one year old. His name is derived from the name of the island.
WOld Hemp was a stud dog considered to be the progenitor to the Border Collie breed. He was owned by Adam Telfer, and was used as a working dog to herd sheep. His style was different from that commonly seen during his era, as he worked far more quietly than the other sheepdogs of the time. This style was adopted and used by other breeders and trainers and became the most common style among Border Collies within a few generations, with his descendants becoming successful international sheepdog champions.
WPalmerston was the resident Chief Mouser of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) at Whitehall in London. The black and white bicolour cat began his role in the position of Chief Mouser on 13 April 2016. Previously, he was from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and is named after the former Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. He was employed at the King Charles Street building.
WPaul the Octopus was a common octopus used to predict the results of association football matches. Accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup brought him worldwide attention as an animal oracle.
WSparkie Williams (1954–1962) was a talking budgie who provided the inspiration for an opera by Michael Nyman and Carsten Nicolai. The opera was performed in Berlin in March 2009. Sparkie had a repertoire of more than 500 words and eight nursery rhymes, becoming a national celebrity after fronting an advertising campaign for Capern's bird seed, and making a record which sold 20,000 copies. After he died, he was stuffed and put on show at Newcastle's Hancock Museum.
WSybil was a cat living at 11 and 10 Downing Street. Named after Sybil Fawlty from the television show Fawlty Towers, she was the pet of then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling.