William Rathbone was the son of a sawyer who lived in Gawsworth, Cheshire, and shared his name.
[1] Born on 22 May 1696, William Rathbone II took up his father's occupation as a sawyer and by 1730 was based in Liverpool, Lancashire, where he probably established a timber business.
[1] In 1722 he married Sarah Hyde with whom he had at least two sons, William Rathbone III[4] and Joseph.
The Darbys had opened a warehouse for export purposes in Liverpool and then began manufacturing there at the Phoenix Foundry.
William had been a customer of the Darbys' Coalbrookdale-based iron foundry and eventually provided loans to them.