William Stephen Rainsford (October 30, 1850 − December 17, 1933) was the rector of St. George's Church in Stuyvesant Square in New York from 1883 to 1906.

[3] The family moved to Dundalk between 1852 and 1865, when his father was appointed vicar of Dundalk by the Earl of Roden, a leading figure in the Protestant Second Reformation, and then London when he became incumbent of St. John's Chapel, Belgrave Square.

Rainsford attended Cambridge University from 1870 to 1873, and spent time in the south of France, suspending his studies for health reasons.

He became a curate at the Parish of St. Giles in Norwich in England, and after four years accepted an offer to preach in New York for four months.

[2] Rainsford married Emily Alma Green in London in 1878, and they had three sons: Lawrence, Ralph Stewart, and Kerr.