William Rathbone V

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File:William Rathbone, Sefton Park 1.jpg

File:Frederick Street wash house.jpg

William Rathbone was a Quaker until he was disowned by the Society of Friends in 1820. He then joined the Unitarian Congregation at the Renshaw Street Chapel.{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Professor Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8hKiAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22William+Rathbone+V%22+%22quaker%22&pg=PA15 |title=Commerce and Culture: Nineteenth-Century Business Elites |date=2013-07-28 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-1-4094-8274-1 |language=en}} {{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGW1DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22William+Rathbone+V%22+%22liverpool%22&pg=PA106 |title=Florence Nightingale: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works |date=2019-12-15 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2506-9 |language=en}} The Rathbones were prominent members of Liverpool society and were known as merchants and shipowners. {{Cite book |last=Dawson |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BNdzEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22William+Rathbone+V%22+%22quaker%22&pg=PT66 |title=Rainhill Men: Railway Pioneers |date=2022-06-15 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-4456-9845-8 |language=en}}

The notability and prosperity of the Rathbone family of Liverpool was tied to the growth of that city as a major Atlantic trading port. William was the eldest son of William Rathbone IV and Hannah Mary (née Reynolds). He was born in 1787, although the statue of him in Sefton Park erroneously gives his birth year as 1788. William went into partnership as a merchant with his brother Richard.

William Rathbone was elected a Reformer (Liberal) councillor for the Pitt Street ward in Liverpool in the first ever Council election in 1835,Pitt Street subsequently re-elected in 1837,Pitt Street for the Vauxhall ward in 1845,1845 Liverpool Town Council election#Vauxhall Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1837, and fought for social reforms. He supported Kitty Wilkinson in establishing wash-houses and public baths following the 1832 cholera epidemic, was an active supporter of the Municipal Reform Act 1835, was responsible for the distribution of New England Relief funds during the Irish famine of 1846–1847 (see British Relief Association). Rathbone died on 1 February 1868 at Greenbank House, with over 1,000 mourners attending his funeral.

Rathbone married Elizabeth (1790–1882), daughter of Samuel Greg of Quarry Bank Mill, Cheshire and Hannah (née Lightbody) in 1812. Their children included:

• Elizabeth who married John Paget{{cite ODNB|id=23160|title=Rathbone, William|first=M. W.|last=Kirby}}
• Hannah Mary who married John Hamilton Thom{{cite DNB|wstitle=Thom, John Hamilton}}
• William Rathbone VI{{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGW1DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22William+Rathbone+V%22+%22liverpool%22&pg=PA106 |title=Florence Nightingale: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works |date=2019-12-15 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2506-9 |language=en}}
• Samuel Greg
• Philip Henry (1828–95).

He was the great-grandfather of the actor Basil Rathbone.[http://www.stanford.edu/~dorcas/Basil.html The Rathbone Register] by Dorcas Rathbone, indicating that William Rathbone's son, Philip Henry Rathbone, was Basil Rathbone's grandfather

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• [http://sca.lib.liv.ac.uk/collections/colldescs/rathbone.html University of Liverpool Rathbone Collection]

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Category:1787 births

Category:1868 deaths

Category:Liberal Party (UK) councillors in Liverpool

Category:Mayors of Liverpool

William