"one of the grandest old men whom Liverpool has ever claimed as a son" (Liverpool Post, 7 Mar 1902); "one of God's best and greatest sons" - Florence Nightingale, 8 Mar 1902, on card sent with funeral wreath
Eldest son of William Rathbone V and Elizabeth (née Greg).
m. 1. (1847) Lucretia Wainwright Gair (c.1823 - 27 May 1859) daughter of Samuel Stillman Gair of Liverpool
m. 2. (6 Feb 1862) Esther EMILY Acheson Lyle (c.1863 - 19 Mar 1918), daughter of Acheson Lyle, Lord Lieutenant of Londonderry and Ellen, daughter of F.J. Warre and Eleanor.
William VI became a partner of Rathbone Brothers and Co., general merchants, in 1842 after some time spent with Nichol, Duckworth and Co. in Liverpool, and Baring Brothers in London; and remained a partner until 1885. He regarded wealth and business success chiefly as a means to the achievement of public and philanthropic work; as he wrote in his Sketch of Family History, a man's surplus wealth, after meeting the reasonable living expenses of himself and his family, should be regarded as:
"a trust for which he owes an account to himself, to his fellow-men, and to God; it is not an absolute freehold which he may use solely for personal enjoyment and indulgence"
In 1859 his appreciation for the services of a nurse, Mary Robinson, engaged to care for his dying wife, Lucretia, prompted him to campaign for a system of district nursing to enable the poor to benefit from similar care; his involvement of Florence Nightingale led to a close friendship.
In 1862, the Liverpool Training School and Home for Nurses was established, from which basis a district nursing system was implemented in Liverpool through the 1860s and spread throughout the country. William VI's involvement with this scheme also made him aware of the poor state of the workhouse hospitals, and he did much to assist in the reform of the nursing in workhouses. In 1888-1889 he was honorary secretary, and then Vice-President of the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for Nurses.
He was elected a Liberal MP for Liverpool in 1868, and sat for the city until 1880; was returned as MP for Carnarvonshire from 1861-1885, and for North Carnarvonshire from 1885-1895. He was closely involved in the formation of University College, Liverpool (1882), founding a Professorship in English with his two brothers, and serving as president of the college in 1892. He also played an important part in the establishment of the University College of North Wales in 1884, and served as president from 1891. He was made Freeman of the City of Liverpool on 21 Oct 1891 and died on 6 Mar 1902 at Greenbank.
Emily actively supported her husband's work in the establishment of District Nursing in Liverpool, acting as a Lady Superintendent of district nurses, and initiating a schools' nursing service in the city in 1895. Her sister, Augusta Lyle, became the second wife of William VI's younger brother Samuel Greg Rathbone.
See Books by William Rathbone VI
Emily Acheson Rathbone, Records of the Rathbone family, 1913
The papers of William Rathbone VI (RP IX) date from c. 1824-1904 and include:
Papers of Emily Rathbone and the Lyle family (RP X) date from 1813-1914 and include:
Related holdings
