Special Collections & Archives: Richard Reynolds Rathbone (23 Feb 1891-1962)

Richard Reynolds Rathbone (23 Feb 1891-1962) & Sybil Rathbone

(Richard) Reynolds was the son of Hugh Reynolds Rathbone and Emily Evelyn Rathbone.

m. (14 April 1928) Sybil Rolfe, youngest daughter of G.W. Rolfe, rector of Swanton Novers, Norfolk.

Three children:
(Richard) Simon
Sebastian David Reynolds
Bridget Mary (later Gledhill)

Reynolds was studying engineering at Trinity College Cambridge at the outbreak of war, during which he served for the 6th King's Liverpool Rifles and was twice wounded in France. After the war he became a merchant.

Sybil was an active member of their local community in Pulborough, Sussex; serving as a member of the West Sussex County Council and Chanctonbury Rural District Council, campaigning for the Arundel and Shoreham constituency Labour Party, and serving on the committees of various local organisations, including serving as honorary secretary of the Pulborough Women's Institute.

Reynolds and Sybil Rathbone in the Rathbone papers

The papers of Reynolds and Sybil Rathbone (RP XVB) date from 1868-1971 and include:

• RP XV B.1 - Family correspondence (2923 items)
• RP XV B.2 - General correspondence (600 items)
• RP XV B.3 - General papers, including papers on the public activities of Sybil Rathbone
• RP XV B.4 - Deeds and accounts (42 items)
• RP XV B.5 - Property records (13 items)

Related holdings

• West Sussex Record Office Holdings include family papers of Sybil and Reynolds Rathbone: correspondence, notebooks, newscuttings, service sheets, printed material and ephemera; include group of papers concerning their activities in Pulborough, records of Reynolds war service (Add. MSS 29, 263-29, 536)

Finding and using

• Rathbone Papers home
• Rathbone Family Tree
• Rathbone Business Papers
• Rathbone Properties
• Finding aid for the Rathbone Papers

• Finding aid for RP XVB: Papers of Reynolds and Sybil Rathbone