| Hugh Quigley |
 Hugh Quigley was born on Saturday, 20th April, 1889, in Derry, County Derry. The forward signed for George Easton's Thistle on Wednesday, 18th December, 1912, having most recently been with Clydebank Juniors. Aged 23, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 21st December, 1912, in a 1-0 win at home to Queen's Park in the SFL First Division. There were no goals for Hugh during his spell with Thistle. He played his second and last game for the club on Saturday, 28th December, 1912, in a 1-0 defeat away to Dundee in the SFL First Division. His club-list included Derry Celtic, Clydebank Juniors, Partick Thistle and Vale of Leven. Hugh died on Tuesday, 16th January, 1979, in Dublin, aged 89. |
 Hugh shared the very day of his birth with Adolf Hitler, but very much played his part in thwarting ambitions of the German Empire (Hitler's Bavarian Army et al) in the first World War! Decent work opportunities were limited for Catholics in Northern Ireland, and the Derry-born lad had moved to Scotland, hoping to improve his life prospects. He worked as a mechanic on all manners of machinery, mainly on sewing machines. His talent as a footballer took care of his fitness and fun all the while, even if he didn't make it to the top of the tree in terms of wages in that supplementary profession. He served in France in WWI behind the lines, utilising his skills as a motor and general mechanic. Apparently there was nothing he couldn't fix, and such skill-sets were in extremely high demand, sparing Hugh the hell of ever having to don a helmet and wade through the trenches of death at the front. After the war, Hugh headed back home to Derry, where, at the turn of the decade, he met and married his wife and life partner. She had recently returned from Sydney as a widow, with a young daughter in tow. There, co-incidentally, she had been married to a Northern Irish infantryman who had served with the Australian forces but had died of his wounds in a Sydney hospital in 1919. Hugh and she would have several children together. In the mid-1920s, the young family moved to Dublin in what was then called the 'Free State', as, again, Hugh's work opportunities were better in that part of the world. Impressively, he went on to become one of Europe's most sought-after sowing machine mechanics. In his role as a trouble-shooter, Singer flew him all over the continent, an adventure almost unheard of for regular civilians of the day. He was paid £200 a week by the Singer group in the 1930s; at the time not even the Irish Prime Minister was earning that! The children wanted for nothing, but he didn't leave that much behind except a house in Dublin. He was famous for being incredibly generous to anyone in his vicinity at Gaffney's pub in Fairview, and this generosity probably accounted for a fair proportion of his weekly wage! Although Hugh had given up professional football early on, he loved nothing more than taking his 4 boys down to the local park in Fairview, Dublin, bamboozling them with his dribbling skills. One of his daughters (Stella, 1923-2005) played hockey, but used to relay stories that the girls weren't encouraged to join in the football! Hugh would live the majority of his long life in Dublin, the city which became his final resting place in the late 1970s. On account of his service during WWI, Hugh is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle Returned →. |
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