William Rathbone was a
Quaker until he was disowned by the
Society of Friends in 1820. He then joined the
Unitarian Congregation at the
Renshaw Street Chapel. The
Rathbones were prominent members of Liverpool society and were known as
merchants and
shipowners. The notability and prosperity of the
Rathbone family of
Liverpool were tied to the growth of that city as a major Atlantic trading port. William was the eldest son of
William Rathbone IV and Hannah Mary (née Reynolds). He was born in
1787, although the statue of him in
Sefton Park erroneously gives his birth year as 1788. William went into partnership as a merchant with
his brother Richard. William Rathbone was elected a
Reformer (Liberal) councillor for the
Pitt Street ward in Liverpool in the
first ever Council election in 1835, subsequently re-elected in 1837, for the
Vauxhall ward in 1845,
Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1837, and fought for social reforms. He supported
Kitty Wilkinson in
establishing wash-houses and
public baths following the 1832
cholera epidemic, was an active supporter of the
Municipal Reform Act 1835, and was responsible for the distribution of
New England Relief funds during the
Irish famine of 1846–1847 (see
British Relief Association). Rathbone died on
1 February 1868 at
Greenbank House, with over 1,000 mourners attending his funeral. ==Family==