How it started
18th century
The business was founded by William Rathbone II by 1742 as a Liverpool-based timber trading business.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the firm expanded into broader international merchanting, developing a commission-based trading role and participating in transatlantic trade between Liverpool and the eastern United States.
19th century
It was involved in early packet services operating between Liverpool, New York City and Philadelphia and began trading in cotton and commodities from the United States. It undertook private trade with India as commercial restrictions were relaxed, predominantly due to the Charter Act 1813 and the Government of India Act 1833. In 1841 it became the Liverpool agent for the East India Company.
In 1824, the partnership formally adopted the name Rathbone Bros.
From Wikipedia’s article on Rathbone Brothers, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2