William Joseph Rainbow

William Joseph Rainbow (1856–1919) was an entomologist and arachnologist whose work includes the first catalogue of Australian spiders.

His father was a Warrant Officer in the Royal Marines, so his education was in a number of port towns and in Edinburgh.

Rainbow's early interest in natural history was assisted by Ballance, who prompted him to build a career in the field.

He continued to contribute to newspapers and journals, including The Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, and Evening News, then worked for the Government Printing Office until 1895; in this year he took up a position at the Australian Museum as an entomologist.

His second son, Sergeant Oscar A. Rainbow, was killed in World War I, an event that seems to have precipitated the death of Arriette in 1917.