General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Charles Rainsford (3 February 1728 – 24 May 1809) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer.

Career

He was the second son of alderman Francis Rainsford (died 1770) and his wife, Isabella and received his first education from a cleric friend of Francis's at

Great Clacton Great Clacton is a residential suburb of Clacton-on-Sea in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated south east of the village of Little Clacton. The A133 road to Colchester from Clacton-on-Sea is directly west of this settlement. T ...

. His uncle, also Charles Rainsford (died 1778), was deputy lieutenant of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

and used his influence to get him made second cornet in General Bland's 3rd dragoons in March 1744, a unit at that time active in the Flanders theatre of the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

. Rainsford joined it immediately, carrying its standard at Fontenoy and soon after being appointed ensign in the Coldstream Guards. With his new unit he returned to England to face the

Jacobite rising , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

, rising to major of brigade and colonel's aide-de-camp. He then served as private secretary to Tyrawley, governor of Gibraltar (1756–7) before returning to England again in 1760. The following year he was given a company to command under

Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

in Germany, before re-joining Tyrawley as aide-de-camp, brigadier-general and chief engineer in 1762 to face the threatened Spanish invasion of Portugal. Ordered home in 1763, with promotion second major in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

and equerry to

William, duke of Gloucester Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (24 July 1689 – 30 July 1700), was the son of Princess Anne (later Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1702) and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. He was their only child to survive infanc ...

(1766–80), he commanded the army detachment at the king's bench prison at

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

after the May 1768 riot. He also served as MP for

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

(1772–74) until his patron

William Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford, KG, PC (17 September 1717 O.S. – 29 September 1781) was a British courtier, diplomat and statesman of Anglo-Dutch descent. He occupied senior ambassadorial posts at Madrid and Paris, ...

's nephew and heir was elected. He also held

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. History and geography With a population of about 2,000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the rivers ...

(1787–88) thanks to help from Algernon Percy, Lord Lovaine (brother of

Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (14 August 174210 July 1817) was an officer in the British army and later a British peer. He participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Long Island during t ...

), leaving it over the

Regency Bill George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, with Lovaine backing the government, but Gloucester and Northumberland opposing it. He was rewarded by Northumberland with Newport, Cornwall (1790–96), before leaving parliament. He had taken little part in parliamentary proceedings, serving at the same time as governor of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

(1776–96), king's aide-de-camp (1777–82), commander of the troops stationed in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

and then

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

against the

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

(1780) and nominal commander of the

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

garrison (1782, though it surrendered to the Spanish before he arrived to take up the post). He was also elected a

fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1779, and was also a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

, a

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

, a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and researched

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

. In 1782 Rainsford and Benedict Chastanier reached out to kindred Illuminist groups in Berlin and Paris by publishing a brochure in French about degrees of the Universal Society. In summer 1783 Rainsford and William Bousie, an Anglo-French merchant, began corresponding with the Parisian lodge of the Philaléthes, preparatory to the Philaléthes convention in Paris in April 1785 to review the rites of many para-Masonic and esoteric societies. Rainsford provided information on

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had ...

Baal Shem of London Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk ( he, חיים שמואל יעקב דפאלק מרדיולה לנידו; 1708 – 17 April 1782), also known as the Baal Shem of London and Doctor Falckon, was a rabbi, '' baal shem'', and alchemist. Biography Falk was b ...

and the Kabbalistic symbolism of higher degrees. He was then sent to be Robert Boyd's second-in-command at Gibraltar on the outbreak of Britain's war with Revolutionary France, and took over after Boyd's death as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

(1794–95). On his return to England he became governor of Cliff Fort,

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon T ...

, his last active posting. On his death in London in 1809 he was buried in a vault in the chancel of the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the

, alongside his first wife, his father and his uncle Charles.

Marriages and issue

#on 18 July 1775 Elizabeth (1758–1781), daughter of Edward Miles #on 16 February 1789, Ann Cornwallis (d. 1 February 1798), youngest daughter of Sir William More Molyneux of Loseley Park, Guildford – the marriage remained childless. He and Elizabeth had three children: *Colonel William Henry Rainsford (bap. 1776, d. 1823) *Julia Anne *Josephina, baptised with Sir Joseph Yorke as godfather, died in infancy

Works

His nearly forty volumes of manuscript are now held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainsford 1728 births 1809 deaths Governors of Gibraltar British Army generals British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston Coldstream Guards officers Grenadier Guards officers 44th Regiment of Foot officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 Burials at the Church of St Peter ad Vincula Members of Parliament for Maldon