Richard Partridge was born on December 9, 1681 in Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. He was the eldest child of William and Mary (Brown) Partridge. His father, a wealthy merchant and ship-builder, served as council member, treasurer of the province, and as lieutenant-governor from 1697 to 1703.
Quarrels with the representative of the proprietor led William Partridge to send his son, Richard Partridge, to plead his cause before the Board of Trade. The young man, twenty-one years old, made the voyage across the Atlantic in the summer of 1701 and was destined to marry and remain in England for the rest of his life. Gradually he built up a wide circle of acquaintances. By trade a merchant, by faith a Quaker, and brother-in-law of Jonathan Belcher, who was somewhat of a courtier, Partridge had friends in all walks of life. In 1715 he was appointed agent for Rhode Island, which important post he held for forty-four years. He was also employed at various times as agent for other colonies: for New York in 1731, for the Jerseys in 1733, for Massachusetts in 1737, for the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1740, and for Connecticut from 1750 to 1759.
In the course of his work Richard Partridge acted as a clearing house of information for the colonial assemblies, conducted lengthy appeals to the Crown, fought detrimental imperial legislation, and kept in check as far as possible the plans of aggressive neighboring colonies. For many years he was occupied with boundary controversies which arose from the network of conflicting grants in New England. As a result of his labors, which included formal petitions, hearings before the Board of Trade, and almost daily conferences with men of influence, he succeeded in getting established for Rhode Island boundaries which brought the fertile Narragansett Country and Narragansett Bay with its excellent harbor within her borders. Other controversies which engaged his attention were the Massachusetts-New Hampshire boundary, the Connecticut-Massachusetts line, and Connecticut's litigation over the claims of the Mohegan Indians. From 1730 to 1733 he played an active part in the struggle over the Molasses Act, which, though of much less importance, was not unlike that over the Stamp Act.
By interviews, by hearings, and by floods of propaganda, both the West Indian merchants and the agents of the American colonies worked frantically to influence the votes of Parliament. When the Act was finally passed, Partridge was credited by his friends with having been responsible for softening some of the features objectionable to the northern colonies. In addition to his official business, he acted as representative for Governor Belcher, an arduous task because of that gentleman's highly irascible nature, and as Parliamentary agent for the London Meeting for Sufferings the purpose of which was to ameliorate the disabilities of the Quakers. In 1759, while engrossed in negotiations arising from the Seven Years' War, he died after a slight illness on March 6, 1759.
On account of his birth and upbringing, Richard Partridge understood thoroughly colonial ideals. On account of his long association with men of affairs, he understood equally well English traits of character and English habits of thought. Richard Partridge was a shrewd, resourceful, and genial, he did much to facilitate colonial administration.
