Richard Partridge
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Richard_Partridge.jpg/220px-Richard_Partridge.jpg)
Richard Partridge
He was the tenth child and youngest son of twelve children of Samuel Partridge, a Glaswegian merchant who moved to Ross-on-Wye in his retirement. His eldest brother was the
Education and career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Cyclopaedia_Face_Fig134.jpg/160px-Cyclopaedia_Face_Fig134.jpg)
Partridge was apprenticed to his uncle, W.H. Partridge, in Birmingham in 1821, where he acted as dresser to the well-known surgeon Joseph Hodgson, who was later another President of the Royal College of Surgeons. He studied at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London from 1827, attending lectures by John Abernethy.[1][2] The same year, he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries.[2]
His early positions included demonstrator of anatomy at the
Partridge was appointed a
London Burkers
Partridge was instrumental in the apprehension of the gang of murderers and
He was present during the autopsy on the boy's body, and gave evidence at the murder trial of the four gang members, stating that the boy's injuries seemed consistent with a blow to the back of the neck. Witnesses had identified the victim as an Italian beggar, Carlo Ferriere, who exhibited white mice in a cage. Three of the gang were found guilty of the murder; before they were hanged, John Bishop and Thomas Williams confessed to drowning the boy in a well after drugging him with laudanum, stating, however, that the victim was actually from Lincolnshire.[7] The third gang member, James May, had his sentence respited to transportation, but died on the way to Australia. The bodies of Bishop and Williams were dissected, the former at King's College London and their remains displayed.[7]
The crime seems to have caught the public interest to an extraordinary degree; a crowd of thirty thousand turned up to watch the hangings,[7] and a play The Italian Boy (featuring the original story of the Italian beggar and his white mice) was later put on at Shoreditch.[8] Partridge's involvement placed him in the public eye at a young age, and the case seems to have made a strong impression on him; he is said to have often included the tale in his lectures.[8] The public outcry about the case put pressure on the government which led to the passing of the Anatomy Act of 1832; the act had been presented in 1829, following the Burke and Hare case, but was defeated.[1] By permitting the bodies of paupers unclaimed by relatives to be supplied to medical schools for dissection, the act did away with the trade of the Resurrectionists.[8]
Consultation on Giuseppe Garibaldi
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Garibaldi_%281866%29.jpg/170px-Garibaldi_%281866%29.jpg)
In September 1862, Partridge was selected to travel to Italy to attend
The reason for choosing Partridge for this role is unclear. Although he was, by then, one of the more eminent British surgeons, he never achieved the fame of his colleague, Sir
Despite all the mission's detractors, Partridge seems to have been received warmly by the surgeons attending Garibaldi on his arrival in
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Auguste_Nelaton.jpg/170px-Auguste_Nelaton.jpg)
Unfortunately, this optimistic prediction was not fulfilled; by the end of October, the development of sepsis made amputation appear inevitable. The French surgeon Auguste Nélaton, known for innovations in surgical tools, was asked to examine Garibaldi. An electrical probe designed by Favre had been used previously, without success, in an attempt to determine if the bullet remained. Nélaton used a normal surgical probe to examine the wound, concluding that Partridge had been mistaken and the bullet was indeed lodged in the joint; he recommended extraction using ball forceps.[9] He later designed a special probe with a tip of unglazed porcelain, which could be introduced into the wound and retain an impression of any bullet present. Using this improved probe, the Italian surgeon Zanetti became convinced of the bullet's presence, and successfully extracted it on 23 November, saving Garibaldi's limb.[9] The triumph of an innovative surgical instrument in this case was just one example of a trend over the latter half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth towards the acceptance of surgery as a craft, with instruments as essential tools of that craft.[9]
Although Partridge had re-examined the wound shortly after Nélaton's consultation and changed his mind to concur with his French rival, severe damage to the relations between the British and Continental schools of surgery was inevitable.[9] His mistake also substantially harmed his professional reputation.[1][9]
Characteristics and works
Although nervous during operations, Partridge was careful during after-care of patients.[1] He was a skilled draughtsman, having taken drawing lessons from his brother, John Partridge, and an able lecturer and teacher. He published an article on the face in The Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology (1839), edited by Robert Bentley Todd, and also wrote and illustrated a work on descriptive anatomy, which was never published.[1][2][4]
Personal life
He married Frances Janette Turner; they had several children, among whom was the illustrator and actor Sir
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online: Partridge, Richard (1805–1873) (accessed 19 August 2007)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Power D'A. 'Partridge, Richard (1805–1873)' (Bryan BA, revd), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press; 2004) (accessed 23 August 2007)
- ^ Ormond R. (1967) John Partridge and the Fine Arts Commissioners Burlington Magazine 109: 397–403 (accessed 19 August 2007)
- ^ a b Partridge R. 'Face' in The Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology (Todd RB, ed.) (Vol. 2), pp. 207–229 (Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper; 1839)
- ^ The Royal Society: Sackler Archive Resource: Partridge; Richard (1805–1873) (accessed 19 August 2007)
- ^ Wise S. The Italian Boy; A Tale of Murder and Body Snatching in 1830s London (Metropolitan Books; 2004) (accessed 19 August 2007)
- ^ a b c d The Newgate Calendar: John Bishop and Thomas Williams (accessed 23 August 2007)
- ^ a b c Kenyon Jones C (2006) The anatomist, the Italian boy and the resurrection men Comment (King's College London newsletter) 165: 15 (accessed 24 August 2007)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Moscucci O (2001) Garibaldi and the surgeons J R Soc Med 94: 248–252 (accessed 19 August 2007)
- ^ a b Lancet (1862) ii: 874–875, also in British Medical Journal; quoted in Moscucci 2001
- ^ Br Med J (1862) ii: 396; quoted in Moscucci 2001