Specifically those that aided the living conditions of the young and the sick, and the elderly, which were often channeled through entities that shared her Anglican faith.

[7] Atherton inherited accumulated wealth from several family members, which included property in London, Cheshire, Lancashire, and Jamaica.

[16] Whilst the Preston Historical Society have a picture of Atherton as an elderly lady,[3] she was portrayed as “Madame Alice Arlington” in the fictional novel “Longleat”, a trilogy by Elleray Lake, the pseudonym of Mrs David Armstrong, a Lancashire author, and published in 1870, the year of Atherton’s death.

[17] In this novel Madame Arlington, a diminutive wealthy old lady is described as “straight as an arrow”, attired from a bygone age, fully participating in a modern assembly, albeit as a ghost of past times.

[18] In real life, Atherton was referred to as Madame Byrom; likely a name she promoted herself, in order to accentuate her maternal lineage of which she was so proud, and society courteously followed.

Victorian biographers such as Josiah Rose mention her being “distinguished by honourable wealth”, a “generous public spirit” and “wide reaching charity”.

[19] Consequently, with this financial independence and wealth, Atherton was able to embark of a series of philanthropic causes; a role she may have assumed out of moral duty, or because of her faith.

[17] The charities funded by Atherton typically reflected her Anglican faith, education, children and the helping of the most vulnerable.

[24] As well as religious buildings, she also donated funds to various medical buildings in Manchester including St Mary's Hospital, founded in 1790, and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital founded in 1814, and many other institutions which helped people who were terminally ill.[19][25] Atherton funded several buildings in memory of family members including the new wing of a Manchester ragged school in memory of her aunt, Eleanora Byrom, and almshouses in Prescot in memory of her sister, Lucy who died in 1859.

[7] The compensation for these Jamaican estates was split between William Harrison of London, and the father of Joseph Feilden, who was first cousin to the Richard Willis, who in turn was Atherton's late brother-in-law.

[13] Twenty years prior to her death, Atherton and her secretary Sarah Bolger had organized the printing of a detailed catalogue of the entire John Byrom collection, which comprised 3327 books and 41 manuscripts.

[32][33] Atherton also presented a copy of a Renaissance manuscript of the life of Aulus Gellius, by a Florentine scribe named Humbertus W delivered to the merchant Francesco Sassetti in 1470 which subsequently formed part of the Bibliotheca Corviniana, prior to it being stolen by the Ottomans, acquired by her ancestor, John Byron at auction during the 18th century.

Her two estates in Jamaica, “Green Park Estate” and “Spring Vale Pen”, together with some tenements at Prescot, and chambers in Lincoln's Inn, London, used by her father were bequeathed to the Reverends’ younger brother, Alexander Atherton Park, who was also a barrister like her own father.