Margaret Mary Partridge (8 April 1891 – 27 October 1967) was an electrical engineer, contractor and founder member of the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

(WES) and the

Electrical Association for Women The Electrical Association for Women (EAW) was a feminist and educational organisation founded in Great Britain in 1924 to promote the benefits of electricity in the home. History The Electrical Association for Women developed in 1924 from a p ...

(EAW). Her business worked with WES to identify and employ female apprentices, including Beatrice Shilling. Partridge also helped campaign to change the International Labour Organisation convention on night work for women in 1934, after Shilling was found working on her own in a power station at night, thus contravening the existing regulations.

Early life and education

Margaret Partridge was born in

Nymet Rowland Nymet Rowland is a small village, and civil parish of the same name, in central Devon, England, north of Dartmoor. It takes part of its name from "Nymet", the old name for the nearby River Yeo. It is located just to the west of Lapford and sou ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

on 8 April 1891, elder daughter (she also having two brothers) of independently wealthy landowner John Leonard James Partridge (1859–1922) and Eleanor Parkhouse (1858–1926), née Joyce. She was educated at Bedford High School, Bedford, and obtained the Arnott and Jane Benson scholarship to study mathematics at Bedford College, London from 1911, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1914. After graduating, Partridge initially tried teaching, before working for an engineering consultant in London where she found her true interest, working in engineering.

Engineering career

'Today a man met me in the road and threatened to cut down some wires because he didn't like the look of them.'Correspondence with Caroline Haslett, Institution of Engineering and Technology Archives, UK0108 NAEST 033.

In 1917, Partridge moved to the engineering company Arthur Lyon & Wrench, which manufactured searchlights. Taking advantage of the opportunities available to women working in industry during the First World War, she trained as an engineering apprentice and advanced to supervisor of the test department. At the end of the war, she decided to move back to the family home in Devon to set up her own electrical consulting business, M. Partridge & Co., Domestic Engineers, and advertised in the Women's Engineering Society's Journal ''The Woman Engineer'' under the slogan 'Women for Women's Work.' Her company soon expanded to bid for contracts to provide electricity supply for small towns and villages. She received a great deal of practical support and financial advice from Dr John Purves MIEE, an electrical engineer who would later advise on the electricity supply scheme for the whole of the west of England. Purves encouraged Partridge to set up electrical lighting companies for Cheriton Fitzpaine, Thorverton and Bampton where she brought electricity to the homes of the inhabitants for the first time. Although most residents were excited at the new developments, she also had to deal with complaints about rights of way and wires extending across properties and gardens. Partridge was a delegate at the first meeting to develop the

, held on 12 November 1924 at 1 Upper Brook Street, home of Lady Katharine Parsons. The attendees represented the great and good of the electrical and engineering world and a large number of influential women's organisations. The meeting heard a paper from Mrs. Mabel Lucy Matthews on her proposal for an organisation to help raise the burden of domestic drudgery from women through the use and increased availability of electricity. Following what was described as "a lively discussion", Partridge proposed a resolution, which was agreed unanimously, “…to form a Women’s Electrical Association” and wishing “to put on record its thanks to Mrs Matthews”. The name was soon changed to the Electrical Association for Women to avoid confusion with the acronym of the Workers’ Educational Association. She presented a paper entitled ''Producing and Distributing Electricity'' at the International Conference of Women in Science, Industry and Commerce organised by

Caroline Haslett Dame Caroline Harriet Haslett DBE, JP (17 August 1895 – 4 January 1957) was an English electrical engineer, electricity industry administrator and champion of women's rights. She was the first secretary of the Women's Engineering Society a ...

and the

at the

British Empire Exhibition The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. Background In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibi ...

on 16 July 1925, speaking alongside the American engineer Ethel H. Bailey and physical chemist Isabel Hadfield. Blue plaque for Margaret Partridge

Partridge decided to help young women who were interested in engineering as a career by offering apprenticeships specifically for young women leaving school. She wrote to

asking for recommendations and was successful in appointing Beatrice Shilling who was an immediate success. Partridge and her partner, Margaret Rowbotham, encouraged Shilling to study at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and Shilling became a pioneering aeronautical engineer. It was Shilling who was discovered working on her own in a power station at night in contravention of the ILObr>Convention concerning Employment of Women during the Night (1919)
which stated that women were not permitted to do any kind of industrial work at night. This case, with support from the

, eventually led to a change in th
convention in 1934
exempting women who were working in a supervisory role. During World War II, Partridge was appointed as the Ministry of Labour Women's Technical Officer for the South West, advising factories on the employment of women in munitions.

Retirement and later work

Following her retirement. Partridge continued to live in Devon, with Margaret Rowbotham, and encouraged the members of her local

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

to wire the village hall for electricity. On 15 September 1962, the couple wrote a letter of "grandmotherly advice" on the joys of retirement to their fellow women engineers in WES, and listed designing and supervising the building of a sports pavilion, and the conversion of a local stately home into a boys' school as well as serving on the Parish Council as part of their retirement activity. Margaret Partridge died at her home, Harpitt, in Willand, Devon, on 27 October 1967. The remains of both Margarets lie in Willand churchyard.

Work for the Women's Engineering Society

Partridge joined the

in 1920. She became Vice-President in 1942, and President in 1943. She succeeded Gertrude Entwistle in the role and was succeeded by Dr. Winifred Hackett in 1946.

Commemoration

A blue plaque was unveiled by Devon History Society at Margaret Partridge's former home in Willand,

in March 2019.

References

External links

Online catalogue, IET Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Partridge, Margaret 20th-century women engineers Alumni of Bedford College, London British electrical engineers British women engineers 1891 births 1967 deaths People educated at Bedford High School, Bedfordshire Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society English electrical engineers People from Mid Devon District Women's Engineering Society 20th-century British engineers 20th-century British businesswomen