THE grandchildren of William Partridge, the famous 1913 Lockout leader, recently unveiled a plaque on the Southside house where he lived throughout the turbulent times from the Lockout to the 1916 Rising.
William Partridge was born in Sligo in 1874, the son of an English Protestant father and an Irish Catholic mother.
When he was 16 Partridge followed his father into the railway and began his apprenticeship as a fitter in Sligo.
In 1892 he transferred to the Broadstone railway workshops in Dublin. It was there that he first became involved in the trade union movement.
He joined the No 2 branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and became a member of the ASE’s Dublin central committee.
In 1899, Partridge moved to The Great Southern and Western Railway Works (later the CIE Works) at Inchicore.
Throughout his time in Inchicore Partridge was active in local affairs and was highly regarded by all sections of the community.
In 1904, Partridge was elected to Dublin City Council. As a public representative he fought for better housing and health facilities for the working people.
He was successful in getting workers’ houses built near the Oblate Church in Inchicore in an area commonly referred to as
“the bungalow.
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However, the railway company objected to Partridge’s absences from work to attend City Hall and he was forced to resign his seat on Dublin Corporation in 1906.
In 1913 Jim Larkin appointed Partridge as manager of the Emmet Hall, Inchicore.
During the 1913 Lockout he went to Britain to gather support for the workers and he was twice arrested for making speeches. After the failure of the General Strike in 1913, Partridge was instrumental in the setting up of the Irish Citizen Army and was elected vice president.
In Holy Week of 1916, James Connolly sent him to Tralee to oversee the unloading of arms from the German arms ship, the Aud. After the interception of the Aud and the arrest of Roger Casement, Partridge returned to Dublin in time for the Rising. During the Rising he fought in the College of Surgeons alongside Countess Markievicz.
After the Rising, he was arrested and sent to Lewes Prison in Britain. He was held there until April 1917. Partridge’s health deteriorated while in prison, and he died three months after his release in July 1917 at the age of 45.