Second son of William Rathbone IV and Hannah Mary (née Reynolds).
m. (8 April 1817) his half-cousin Hannah Mary (5 Jul 1798 - 26 Mar 1878), daughter of Joseph Reynolds of Ketley, Shropshire, and grand-daughter of Richard Reynolds.
Six children:
Hannah Mary (12 Jan 1818 - 10 Apr 1853)
Richard Reynolds (19 Apr 1820 - 1898)
Margaret (b. 30 Dec 1821) m. (17 Jun 1847) Abraham Dixon
Basil (5 Apr 1824 - 20 Feb 1853)
Benson (17 Apr 1826 - 1892) m. (31 Mar 1852) Hannah Sophia Greg
Emily (June 1838-1907) m. (2 Sept 1861) Eustace Greg
Richard was a commission merchant, setting up in partnership with his brother, William Rathbone V in 1809; when the American artist John James Audubon visited Liverpool in 1826, one of his letters of introduction was addressed to Richard Rathbone. (See also the Art Gallery webpage on Audubon in Liverpool). Richard Rathbone retired in 1835. A committed opponent of the slave trade, he published in 1836 'Letter to the President of the Liverpool Anti-Slavery Society'.
Hannah Mary was a writer and artist; her most famous work being The Diary of Lady Willoughby (1844-47) set in the reign of Charles I. The first part of this work, published anonymously in 1844, was ascribed to various writers of the period of the diary. Charles Whittingham at the Chiswick Press initiated a Caslon type revival by using the typeface to create an archaic effect for the publication of The Diary. Other publications include anthologies of poetry on Childhood , and The poetry of birds (illustrated with lithographs of her own watercolours.) She also compiled an edition of the letters of her grandfather, Letters of Richard Reynolds (1852) and a volume of her own poems.
Records for books by Hannah Mary Rathbone (1798-1878)
Papers of Richard Rathbone (RP VII) date from 1818-1904 and include:
