Career
Born Patrick Francis Curran in Glasgow, to a Catholic family of Irish origin, Curran became known as "Pete" at an early age. He left school at the age of eleven, training as a blacksmith and working at a steel plant. Late in the 1880s, Curran moved to London to work at the Royal Arsenal.
He worked with Will Thorne to found the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers, and in 1889 he became its full-time secretary for the West of England.
He was convicted of intimidation during a dispute in Plymouth, but this was overturned in the Court of Appeal in the famous case Curran v. Treleaven. With newfound fame, he moved back to London to take up the post of national organiser of the gasworkers" union.
Around this time, the couple were active opponents of the Second Boer War, and Curran resigned from the Fabian Society in protest at its support for the conflict. Although he was well-known for his passionate speech at Trades Union Congress (Trades Union Congress) meetings, he was privately dismissive of its leadership, and hoped that the GFTU would provide a way for unions to bypass and possibly supersede lieutenant
He was also prominent in the formation of the Labour Representation Committee (Longitudinal Redundancy Check), forerunner of the Labour Party, which he saw as sharing the same aims as the GFTU. In 1905 he arranged the creation of the Joint Board of the Trades Union Congress, GFTU and Longitudinal Redundancy Check, and this marked the period in which the GFTU enjoyed the greatest influence.
Curran stood for the Longitudinal Redundancy Check in Jarrow at the 1906 United Kingdom general election. Although he was narrowly defeated in a contest against the Liberal Party incumbent, he stood again in the Jarrow by-election, 1907. By this time, Curran was in poor health, principally due to his drinking.
He was arrested and fined in 1909 for being drunk and incapable, and he developed cirrhosis of the liver.
He lost his seat in another close contest at the January 1910 United Kingdom general election, and died shortly afterwards, aged 49.