A collection of the correspondence of William Rathbone, English ship-owner and merchant.

William Rathbone IV (1757-1809) was a member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool, England. He was the son of William Rathbone III and Rachel Rutter; he was a Liverpool ship-owner and merchant, involved in the organization of American trade with Liverpool. Originally a member of the Society of Friends, he felt compelled to write the "Narrative of Events in Ireland among the Quakers in 1786" in protest against religious intolerance in the Society, which resulted in his being disowned by the Hardshaw monthly Friends meeting at Manchester in 1805. He would never join another religious body, though he occasionally worshiped with local Unitarian congregations. As a committed opponent to slavery, he was a founding member of the Liverpool Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Rathbone married Hannah Mary Reynolds (1761-1839), they had eight children, four of whom lived to adulthood. Rathbone died on February 11, 1809, and was buried at Liverpool Friends' Burial Ground. Abraham Shackleton was a leading Quaker who ran a Quaker school in Ballitore, County Kildare, Ireland.

2.16 Linear Feet (1 box, 1 volume)

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