Richard Rathbone (2 December 1788 – 10 November 1860) was a merchant and member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool in England.

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 (5 July 1798 – 26 March 1878), 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.

As a committed opponent of the slave trade, he published in 1836 Letter to the President of the Liverpool Anti-Slavery Society.