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, 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. 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. Rathbone and his wife had six children: • 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) ==References==