William Rathbone

William Rathbone VI (11 February 1819 – 6 March 1902) was an English merchant and businessman noted for his philanthropic and public work. He was also a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1868 and 1895.

Background and early life

Rathbone was the eldest son of William Rathbone of Greenbank, Liverpool and his wife Elizabeth Greg, daughter of Samuel Greg of Quarry Bank, Cheshire. He was a member of the noted Rathbone family and spent some time with various companies in Liverpool and London in 1842, becoming a partner in the family company Rathbone Brothers and Co., general merchants of Liverpool. He remained a partner until 1885 and is said to have regarded wealth and business success chiefly as a means to the achievement of public and philanthropic work. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and JP for Lancashire.

Political and philanthropic work

When Rathbone's first wife Lucretia was dying in 1859 she was cared for at home by a private nurse, Mrs Mary Robinson, who had received training at St. Thomas' Hospital London, Seeing the difference a trained nurse could make for a patient in a wealthy household prompted him to pursue bringing such benefits for poor people. Following a three-month experiment with Nurse Robinson providing nursing care in the homes of poor people in one district of Liverpool, he set about creating a philanthropic system of district nursing for poor people in their homes. The involvement of Florence Nightingale led to a close friendship. In 1862, the Liverpool Training School and Home for Nurses was established, from which a district nursing system was implemented in Liverpool through the 1860s and spread throughout the country. His 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 nursing in workhouses.