[2] He was born in Barnstaple, North Devon, the son of David Partridge (a pharmacist) and his wife Mary Ann Hunt.
[3] His elder sister Ethel Mairet (1872-1952) (née Partridge)[4] was a notable weaver, textile designer and dyer who wrote several books on hand-weaving.
[1] He studied at Birmingham Municipal School of Art[5] where he shared lodgings with Henry Payne, painter and stained glass designer.
After two years (c.1907-9) teaching at the Camberwell School of Art[6] in London and spending time at the Barnstaple Guild of Metalwork[7] and at the Guild and School of Handicraft in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire (established as a community of artists and craftspeople by the arts and crafts architect Charles Robert Ashbee), where his sister Ethel also studied,[8] he established himself as an artist and art jeweller, at some time before 1911[1] and worked from a studio in Dean Street,[7] London.
[11][1][10] Two of Fred Partridge's works from 1928 are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a brooch (M.14-1976) and a ring (M.15-1976), the latter of silver set with a baguette amethyst, made for his daughter Joan.