Richard Rathbone

Richard Rathbone (2 December 1788 – 10 November 1860) was a merchant and member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool in England.

Richard Rathbone
in 1840 in the crowd at the conference
Born	(1788-12-02)2 December 1788
Died	10 November 1860(1860-11-10) (aged 71)
Occupation	Merchant
Known for	Abolitionism

Life

Rathbone was the second son of William Rathbone IV. Richard was a commission merchant, setting up in partnership with his brother, William Rathbone V in 1809.

On 8 April 1817 Rathbone married his half-cousin, the illustrator and writer, Hannah Mary (5 July 1798 – 26 March 1878), daughter of Joseph Reynolds of Ketley, Shropshire, and granddaughter of Richard Reynolds. Richard devoted a lot of his time to the family business, which concerned his wife.^[1]

He retired in 1835. As a committed opponent of the slave trade, he published in 1836 Letter to the President of the Liverpool Anti-Slavery Society.

Rathbone attended the 1840 anti-slavery convention in London and was included in the painting which is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London.^[2]

Rathbone and his wife had six children:^[1]

• Hannah Mary (1818–1853)
• Richard Reynolds (1820–1898)
• Margaret (b. 1821 later Dixon)
• William Benson (1826–1892)
• Basil (1824–1853)
• Emily (1838–1907, later Greg)