Joseph Rathbone (1746-1790) of Liverpool, ironmaster
Married Mary Darby, daughter of Abraham Darby (1711-1763)
1771 Replaced George Perry at the Liverpool branch of the Coalbrookdale Co
1784 William Fawcett joined the management of the Liverpool foundry
1785 Large-scale iron-making began with a furnace at Donnington Wood constructed by William Reynolds and Joseph Rathbone on land leased from Earl Gower, on the north side of the Donnington Wood Canal. Gower contributed £2,000 to the enterprise[1].
1790 August. Died
Joseph Rathbone's executors were his widow Mary of Coalbrookdale and William Rathbone, merchant, of Liverpool[2].
In his will he bequearthed William Fawcett £2,500 and his Five Shares in Iron Bridge across the Severn. Fawcett was then granted a lease on Phoenix Foundry for seven years by the Darbys of Coalbrookdale.
1807 Death of his wife. ' On the 17th inst at Coalbrook-dale, aged 57, Mrs. Mary Rathbone, relict of Mr. Joseph Rathbone, formerly a merchant in Liverpool, and one of the people called Quakers.'[3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Lilleshall: Economic history, in A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11: Telford (1985), pp. 155-164. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18111 Date accessed: 28 October 2010
- ↑ National Archives [1]
- ↑ Lancaster Gazette - Saturday 25 April 1807